The city of Anchorage spent more than $200,000 supporting the August 15 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf‑Richardson. Officials of Alaska’s most populous city now want reimbursement from the federal government.
When contacted by Newsweek, the White House deferred comment to the U.S. Secret Service (USSS).
Why It Matters
The U.S. and Russian leaders convened in a widely publicized meeting that included handshakes, smiles and a red carpet. But the summit fizzled as no major concessions, including a ceasefire or peace deal, were reached regarding the yearslong war in Ukraine. The meeting preceded another in Washington, D.C., that included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several other European leaders.
Anchorage’s request calls into question the federal government’s responsibility in absorbing expenses when a presidential administration brings a foreign head of state to a locality, and whether federal reimbursements for protective services or otherwise would apply.
What To Know
Emily Goodykoontz, spokesperson for Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, told Newsweek via email on Friday that the municipality’s expenses due to the Trump-Putin summit were largely related to personnel, primarily for increased Anchorage police staffing. The Anchorage Fire Department also incurred some costs.
“The municipality will request reimbursement from the federal government,” Goodykoontz said. “We don’t expect to have final numbers from all departments for a few weeks. However, it’s safe to say the municipality’s expenses related to the summit were in excess of $200,000.”
It remains to be seen whether Anchorage receives that total amount of reimbursement—or any portion of it.
“State and local law enforcement play a crucial role in our ability to effectively safeguard the president and other U.S. Secret Service protectees,” USSS spokesperson Alexi Worley told Newsweek via email on Friday. “However, the U.S. Secret Service currently lacks a mechanism to reimburse local governments for their support during protective events.
“In recent discussions with congressional leaders, we identified this as a critical need given the essential role our police and public safety partners play. We are grateful for the additional funding provided in the continuing resolution and we will continue to work with Congress to advocate for the necessary resources to support the city, county and state law enforcement agencies that assist us every day.”
Other municipalities have requested federal reimbursement for similar reasons.
In July, Palm Beach County officials said they would request money in return for security detail present during Trump’s Florida trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to Palm Beach Daily News. Those officials alluded to a provision within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act allotting $300 million toward reimbursing local expenses for protecting any formally designated “residence of the president.”
The federal government reimbursed Palm Beach County approximately $40 million per year for protection the municipality provided the president during his first term, according to the Alaska Beacon.
Anchorage Assembly Democratic Chair Chris Constant described the expense as a “huge hit” to municipal plans and said the outlay represented services the city could otherwise have provided to residents, the outlet reported.
What People Are Saying
Constant also told the Alaska Beacon that summit-related expenses in excess of $200,000 would be a “huge hit to the budget,” adding: “Twenty or 30 grand, I might feel okay with. Fifty grand, starting to get pretty real. But $200,000, that’s a real painful amount of money. That is how many child care units of service? How many police responses is that to criminal activities happening in the city, or homeless camps?”
What Happens Next
It remains unclear whether reimbursements will be offered to Anchorage.
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