Picking Up The Check

There are a couple of key points. One is that the visit by Mr. Trump on August 9 was purely a campaign fundraising visit — two events were held, in Tuckahoe and Bridgehampton, and they were the only scheduled events. Even the landing at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton this time, compared to a similar visit in 2018, didn’t include any handshaking or other appearances. Which is fine: Mr. Trump is hardly the only political candidate who comes here in search of campaign funds. Only the highest-profile of them. “Protecting the POTUS” is on its own level.Before Mr. Trump’s two August campaign visits, last year and this year, it had been 20 years since a sitting president visited: Bill Clinton, who came to Amagansett and East Hampton in 1998. A presidential visit, complete with Secret Service presence, requires much more security than other kinds of political fundraisers that are frequently held here. The only thing comparable might be Vice President Joe Biden’s occasional “vacation” visit to Southampton Village — for which the village sought reimbursement for police expenses. (Former Mayor Mark Epley said those checks never actually came.)Which is a point to explore. There’s no guarantee the requests for reimbursement will be honored, certainly. Ask the city of El Paso, Texas, which has sought more than $500,000 from the Trump campaign for a “Make America Great Again” rally in February, according to Forbes magazine. Another $270,000 has been sought from eight other cities, the magazine noted.

But that’s not a reason not to ask. It’s worth pointing out that other major events on the South Fork, particularly (but not exclusively) in the summer, that require a police presence — including such innocuous activities as fun runs and charity galas — must budget in the cost of local police services. Why should political campaign fundraisers, especially a pair that collected $12 million for the candidate, be exempt from those rules? Why should local taxpayers get stuck with the bill?