New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and New York State senator Liz Kruger talk to reporters in New York. (AP Photo) US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to cut funding of New York if Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the November 4 mayoral election, and urged supporters to back independent candidate and former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the polls, Reuters reported.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president wrote that if Democratic candidate Mamdani wins the New York City’s mayoral polls on Tuesday, then it was “highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required.” The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to cut funding and federal grants for projects primarily located in the Democratic-run region.
Media reports suggest that NYC mayoral polls show Mamdani leading against his arch rival Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. Trump said a vote for Republican nominee Sliwa would only help Mamdani and urged his supporters to back Cuomo in the polls.
“We must also remember this — A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani. Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!” Trump wrote.
Republicans have continuously attacked Mamdani’s candidacy in the NYC mayoral polls, with some leaders urging to track his citizenship and deport him from the United States and the US president terming the self-described democratic socialist as a communist.
In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes, Trump said that if a Communist is running New York, it would be hard for him to give a lot of money to the city as it’ll be a waste of money with Zohran Mamdani at the helm as mayor of NYC. This financial year, New York City received $7.4 billion in federal funding, BBC reported.
