President Donald Trump renewed his threats against New York City on Tuesday, suggesting he would withhold funds and deploy federal troops — just as in Chicago and Washington, D.C. — if Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor.

“We’re not going to ruin one of our great cities, because we’ll make that great,” he said. “We will clean up the crime in about 30 days. It took 12 days to do Washington, D.C. So New York is bigger.”

What You Need To Know

President Donald Trump threatened to withhold funding and send federal troops to New York if Democrat Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor

“I’ll fight like hell to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in response to Trump’s comments

Hochul held a funding announcement in Mamdani’s Assembly district, where they appeared together for the first time since she endorsed him last month

The Trump administration has already tried to withhold funding from New York, including $18 billion for transit projects. But his latest comments were tied directly to Mamdani; he called the democratic socialist a communist who hates police and Jewish people.

“I was always very generous with New York, even when you had opposition there. But I was always very generous,” Trump said. “But I wouldn’t be generous to a communist, a guy that’s going to take the money and throw it out the window. Because you’re talking about hundreds of billions of dollars. And we’re not going to let somebody get into office, and squander the taxpayer money from this country.”

At an event in Brooklyn on Tuesday where he was endorsed by Black clergy leaders, Mamdani said Trump can be held to account through the courts.

“President Trump has called me many things,” Mamdani told reporters. “We will continue to receive funding from the federal government, and it’s not because of President Trump’s generosity. It’s because it is the law. And just because he utters something, does not make it the law.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul also reacted to Trump’s remarks after a funding announcement in Mamdani’s Queens Assembly district, where they appeared together for the first time since she endorsed him last month.

“I’ll fight like hell to make sure that doesn’t happen,” she told reporters following the event.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, at an unrelated event where he announced an affordable housing action plan, suggested mainstream Democrats like Hochul are feeling pressure from the Democratic Socialists of America.

“They are formidable, and they are frightening to Democrats in a primary,” he said.

Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who focused on subway crime during a morning news conference in Midtown and later opened a new campaign office in Floral Park in Eastern Queens, downplayed Trump’s remarks as more of the same.

“I’m not focused on that,” he said. “I’ve got 21 days left to get out the vote. That’s what’s going to determine who the next mayor is.”