Trump says if New York elect running democratic candidate Mamdani as new mayor, federal aid will be taken away from the state. President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral race, a move that surprised few and pleased even fewer. The president made his endorsement Monday evening on Truth Social, advising voters to “pick Cuomo” over Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, whom he derided as “incapable.”
“Whether you like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice,” Trump wrote. “You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not.”
Trump also reiterated a familiar threat: that federal funds to New York could be cut if the city elects a progressive. He said he would provide only “the very minimum” of federal support under a Mamdani administration, calling the left-wing candidate a “communist” in a Sunday television interview.
“It’s going to be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,” Trump said. “Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”
Mamdani, a state assemblyman and self-described democratic socialist, dismissed the comment. “It’s a threat, not the law,” he said, adding that he’s “a bit more like a Scandinavian politician, just browner.”
The president’s posture toward funding is not new. His administration has repeatedly targeted federal grants and programs tied to Democratic-led cities. New York City, which received $7.4 billion in federal funds this fiscal year, remains a frequent example.
Cuomo, running as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, was quick to clarify the nature of Trump’s support. “He’s not endorsing me,” Cuomo said. “He’s opposing Mamdani.”
Polls show Mamdani leading, with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa far behind. Trump, notably, declined to back Sliwa, writing instead, “A vote for Curtis Sliwa ... is a vote for Mamdani.”
Mamdani responded that the endorsement “shows exactly what this race is about,” describing Cuomo as “Donald Trump’s preferred mayor, not New York’s.”
In a Sunday interview on 60 Minutes, Trump said a Mamdani victory would make former Mayor Bill de Blasio “look great,” adding, “If it’s between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’ll pick the bad Democrat every time.”
Cuomo, for his part, has leaned into his record of confronting Trump as governor during the pandemic, though his tenure remains clouded by controversy over nursing home deaths. “I fought Donald Trump,” Cuomo said at a recent debate. “When I’m fighting for New York, I don’t stop.”
If elected, Mamdani, 34, would be the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in over a century. He has framed his campaign as a rejection of both Trumpism and establishment politics. “The answer to a Donald Trump presidency is not to create its mirror image in City Hall,” he said Monday. “It’s to create something better, something that believes in the dignity of every New Yorker.”
Trump, who grew up in Queens and still owns property in the city, seems unconvinced. For him, New York remains personal and political.
