Blakeman to meet with Trump to discuss his campaign

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, will meet with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Blakeman said he’s traveling to the White House in his capacity as a candidate and that the trip will be paid out of his campaign account.

What You Need To Know

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, will meet with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday

Blakeman said he’s traveling to the White House in his capacity as a candidate and that the trip will be paid out of his campaign account

The longtime ally was endorsed by Trump last fall after Rep. Elise Stefanik dropped her bid against Gov. Kathy Hochul

“We’re going to talk about New York state, and we’re going to talk about issues. We’re going to talk about policy. We’re going to talk about a wide range of things,” he told reporters in Albany on Monday.

The longtime ally was endorsed by Trump last fall after Rep. Elise Stefanik dropped her bid against Gov. Kathy Hochul. 

Both Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Hochul have working relationships with the president, and have even earned his praise at times. 

“I embrace the fact that they’re cordial with each other, but the fact is that their policies are diametrically apart from the president’s policies, and they’re diametrically apart from my policies. So the fact that they get along doesn’t mean anything when it comes to policy,” he said.

“I try to make people happy, and even we have disagreements. Some people don’t like President Trump, but what I say to them is, look, we’re not going to agree on President Trump, but let’s talk about things that we can agree on so I can make your lives better,” Blakeman added.

He declined to go into detail about whether he planned to ask Trump for help to fundraise for his underdog campaign.

“The president has been very generous to me with his endorsements,” he said.

Blakeman is currently suing the state’s newly set up Public Campaign Finance Board after the Democratic-led panel kicked him out of the program, making him ineligible for taxpayer funds to boost his campaign — seen as a major disadvantage for a Republican running in the majority blue state.

“While Governor Hochul spends every day fighting to lower costs for New York families, Bruce Blakeman is groveling at Trump’s feet — getting his marching orders to jack up costs with illegal, expensive tariffs, start an armed MAGA militia instead of supporting local cops, and let ICE run rampant,” Ryan Radulovacki, a spokesman for the Hochul campaign, said in a statement.