I know a few arenas have demanded large deposits. No idea if that’s normal behavior for said arenas.

I’m sure there’s a certain amount of dark money donating, wherein Trump gets to host a rally at a site owned by a political ally and put it on a tab he never intends to pay back. The ally gets to write the expense off as a loss and claim a tax credit. And everyone gets what they want.

But staff stiffing venues and vendors for the bills is also common enough in professional politics that they’re already known as bad business partners. Bigger outfits know to demand cash upfront regardless of who they’re working with.