President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding for New York City if the progressive Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral election.
Trump, who is from New York City, said the democratic socialist “will prove to be one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party.”
“He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City,” Trump posted to his Truth Social platform on Monday.
“Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him?
“This ideology has failed, always, for thousands of years. It will fail again, and that’s guaranteed!”
Newsweek contacted Mamdani’s campaign for comment, but speaking to reporters at an event in the city on Monday, he said that even having a mayor who collaborated with the Trump administration, referring to incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, federal policies still dominated New York City.
“You are still seeing a federal policy of detaining New Yorkers as young as 6-years-old,” Mamdani said. “Of withholding more than $50 million in funding from our schools, of taking $80 million from a bank account. You still see an administration that looks at this city as something to be punished each and every day, and what this city deserves is someone who will fight for it.”
Why It Matters
Trump has weighed in on New York City and state politics multiple times over the years. In 2020, he and then Governor Andrew Cuomo, now Mamdani’s main opponent, were at odds over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump and current NYC Mayor Adams have also had a publicly complicated relationship, mostly due to the city’s handling of the large number of immigrant arrivals under former President Joe Biden. More recently, the president and other Republicans have been vocal in their opposition to Mamdani and his policies.
What To Know
Mamdani is leading the polls for the New York City mayoral race, with his campaign getting another boost on Sunday when Adams, a Democrat-turned-independent, dropped out.
While the front-runner has been seen to promote policies which are further to the left than previous Democratic Party mayors, his message of rent freezes, free buses, and raising minimum wages has resonated with voters. In June’s Democratic primary, he beat Cuomo by a clear margin.
The message from Trump on Monday reflects similar threats made by the president and his cabinet to withhold federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities and jurisdictions, primarily run by Democrats. New York State has seen such threats, over its immigrant protections which the White House see as standing in the way of federal immigration enforcement.
While Mamdani has been clear in his support for NYC’s immigrant population, his other policies appeared to keep senior Democrats, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, from endorsing him for several weeks following the primary. Hochul’s eventual endorsement riled the president.
Now Mamdani seemingly has a clearer path to the mayorship, Trump has stated he could prevent federal funding from reaching his home city if Mamdani is in charge.
Previous attempts to withhold federal funds during Trump’s second term have been challenged in court, mostly under the idea that it is Congress and not the president which decides how federal funding is allocated. While the Executive branch can request conditions be placed on funding allocations, it would still be up to lawmakers to impose them.
In April, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration could not deny federal funds to sanctuary cities, as the federal government cannot force local jurisdictions to participate in federal immigration enforcement, something the U.S. Supreme Court has backed.
New York State won its lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week for withholding disaster relief funding because of sanctuary policies. If a similar rationale of not approving of a local policy was used to hold back allocated federal funds from New York City, similar legal challenges would likely follow.
What People Are Saying
New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, speaking to reporters Monday morning: “I think that Donald Trump is going through the stages of grief. He began with denial, where he said there was no way we could win this race, and he would use every tool at his disposal to ensure that that was the case. We saw that with phone calls that he had with Andrew Cuomo and briefings that he had with pollsters. Now he’s coming to terms with the fact that we’re going to win this race.
“He’s coming to terms with it because New Yorkers are tired of a politics here in this city that has more to do with Washington than it does to do with the people of this same city.”
New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, on X September 24: “We just won our lawsuit against DHS after a judge ruled the department can’t hold life-saving disaster relief funds hostage to advance its anti-immigration efforts. The federal government cannot prioritize its cruel immigration agenda over Americans’ safety.”
What Happens Next?
New Yorkers will go to the polls on November 4.
Update 9/29/25, 11:25 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.