Topline
President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday, calling the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor a “communist” and again implying he would be willing to withhold federal funds from the city, the same day he officially won the Democratic Party’s primary election.
President Donald Trump escalated his threats against Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New ... More
Trump began his attacks on Mamdani immediately after election day last week, calling him “a 100% Communist Lunatic” on his Truth Social platform and insulting his intelligence and “grating” speaking voice (Mamdani is not a self-described communist, but is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, one of the largest left-wing political organizations in the U.S.).
Speaking to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from New York City, warning that “whoever’s mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves, or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially.”
Trump escalated the threat Tuesday at a press conference in Florida, telling a reporter “we’ll have to arrest him” when asked about Mamdani’s election night call to remove Immigrations and Customs Enforcement from New York City neighborhoods.
At least one congressional Republican called for the Justice Department to investigate if Mamdani misrepresented himself during his naturalization process in 2018, and Trump seemingly acknowledged these claims Tuesday, telling reporters “we’re going to look at everything.”
Mamdani, a 33-year-old first term assemblyman representing parts of Queens, shocked the Democratic Party establishment last week after he emerged as the clear winner in the primary. Mamdani officially won the primary Tuesday, after the final vote count factoring in ranked choice votes. Mamdani took home 56% of the final vote, finishing 12 points ahead of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo—the favorite in most polls leading up to election day.
At a victory rally on election day, Mamdani pledged to serve as a mayor who “will use their power to reject Donald Trump’s fascism, to stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors.” Mamdani’s campaign also published a six-page policy overview on his plan to “Trump-proof” New York City, including preventing ICE from operating in city-owned facilities like Rikers Island and investing millions in funds for legal defense services for immigrants. Mayor Eric Adams has largely cooperated with ICE during the second Trump administration, but a plan to allow agents into Rikers was indefinitely put on hold in June as it faces a legal challenge. The Trump administration has mounted an offensive against sanctuary cities, and filed a lawsuit Monday against Los Angeles over sanctuary city policies. The Justice Department has already sued New York state over sanctuary policies, including blocking ICE agents from making arrests at state courthouses.
$7.4 billion. That’s how much federal funding is included in New York City’s operating budget for 2026, or 6.4% of the city’s total spending, according to a report published by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office in April. These funds include grant money from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund city services like public housing, hospitals and the Metropolitan Transit Authority. It is unclear how much of these funds the Trump administration could immediately freeze, or if this effort would get challenged in court.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., led the Republicans vocally calling for Mamdani’s deportation, sharing a letter he sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi calling for an investigation into whether he lied during his naturalization process. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, has been a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2018. The Justice Department issued a memo in June prioritizing denaturalization proceedings for individuals convicted of certain crimes or those who “‘illegally procured’ naturalization or procured naturalization by ‘concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.’” Ogles has a history of introducing controversial proposals, including an attempt to amend the 22nd Amendment to carve out an exception for Trump to run for a third term in office—a resolution he proposed just three days after Trump's second inauguration. When asked about Ogles’ letter last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had not called for Mamdani to be deported just yet. “I haven’t heard him say that, I haven’t heard him call for that,” Leavitt said. “But certainly, he does not want this individual to be elected. Leavitt did not rule out an investigation, telling Fox News’ Peter Doocy, “I have not seen those claims, but surely if they are true, it’s something that should be investigated.” Trump repeated this sentiment Tuesday. “A lot of people are saying ‘he’s here illegally…’ we’re going to look at everything,” he said. “And ideally, he’s going to turn out to be much less than a communist. But right now, he’s a communist. That’s not a socialist.”
In a statement posted on social media, Mamdani denounced Trump’s arrest threats, which he called “intimidation.” Mamdani previously refuted the assertion he was a communist in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, telling host Kristen Welker, “no, I am not. And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for.” In the same interview, Mamdani renewed his calls to increase taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers. “When we talk about my politics, I call myself a democratic socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago who said, ‘Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country.’” Mamdani’s campaign has not returned a request for comment from Forbes.