New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is brushing off a social media attack by President Trump about his taxing policies.
Mr. Trump’s posh multimillion dollar penthouse triplex in Trump Tower is a second home for a man who lists his Mar-a-Lago estate as his legal residence, making him a prime target to pay the new pied-à-terre tax Mamdani wants to help close his budget.
On Thursday, one day after the tax was unveiled, Mr. Trump let loose on Truth Social.
“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance! The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG. People are fleeing. They must change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven, THIS ‘STUFF’ JUST DOESN’T WORK. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he wrote.
At an unrelated press conference Friday, Mamdani appeared unperturbed by the attack, apparently viewing it as the price of doing business with a man he has profound policy differences with.
“I’ve made it clear to the president and to the public that I am deeply supportive of taxing the rich, and taxing non-resident secondary homes worth more than $5 million falls right within that,” Mamdani said.
The mayor, who has visited the Oval Office twice, said his relationship with Mr. Trump is still friendly, and their policy disagreement about taxes is just a bump in the road.
“I’ll be honest with you, it’s not a surprise given the fact that the president and I have many deep policy differences, and I am not shy about airing them both publicly and privately,” Mamdani said.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who supports the pied-à-terre tax, agrees the president should have to pay it.
“Everyone has to pay that who qualifies in that. It’s about 13,000 homes that will be affected by the pied-à-terre tax,” she said. “Again, it’s for people who have this second home. They’re not living in New York City, but they purchased a home in excess of $5 million.”
Morris Pearl, head of the tax-the-rich group The Patriotic Millionaires, agrees.
“I think he should pay the tax the same way as everyone else, sure,” Pearl said.