Zohran Mamdani wasted no time as the newly elected mayor of New York City in addressing the man who threatened not only to withdraw funds from the city but also to arrest him and deport him if he won the election.
“Donald Trump, I know you’re watching this, so I have some words for you: turn up the volume,” stated Mamdani, a Democrat, to the Republican president from the stage at his victory party in Brooklyn.
He issued a direct challenge to the president. “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it’s the city that saw him born,” he declared.
This statement illustrates how both men have leveraged each other as politically advantageous adversaries, with Mamdani rising from an unknown state legislator to a national Democratic star, while Trump has portrayed the current Democratic Party as radical and out of touch with voters.
The day after the election, Trump repeatedly referenced Mamdani during a business conference in Miami, describing the newly elected mayor as a nightmare he promised to combat while linking other Democratic politicians to his party’s new political star.
“If you want to see what Congressional Democrats desire to do to America, just look at the outcome of yesterday’s election in New York, where their party installed a communist as mayor of the largest city in the country,” Trump said.
Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a U.S. citizen after graduating from college, continued to position himself as the emblem of resistance against the president, who has pursued an aggressive anti-immigrant agenda during his second term.
“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and starting tonight, led by an immigrant,” he affirmed in his victory speech. “So listen to me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you’ll have to go through all of us.”
Trump, who has spent months insulting Mamdani and warning that the city would fall apart if he won, appeared to be watching the speech.
“…and so it begins,” he posted on social media as Mamdani spoke.
Mamdani, a social democrat who campaigned on progressive promises and cheerful optimism that sharply contrasts with Trump’s darker, hardline tactics, is likely to face ongoing political attacks from the president, along with a federal government that may try to thwart his agenda. However, it remains unclear exactly how Trump plans to respond and whether the courts will intervene.
“Mayor Trump”
New York has so far emerged relatively unscathed from the federal government’s assaults, which have sent the National Guard to cities like Los Angeles and Washington. Current Mayor Eric Adams enjoyed an unusual alliance with the Republican president, whose administration dismissed a federal corruption case against the mayor in exchange for his help with the president’s immigration agenda.
But for months, Trump has threatened to cut federal funding to the city and take full control if Mamdani won, threats that have become a cornerstone of Mamdani’s rivals’ campaigns.
Mamdani says he will try to “shield” the city from Trump
During his first press conference as mayor-elect on Wednesday, Mamdani acknowledged that the most powerful former resident of the city will be one of the main challenges he will face as a city leader.
“New Yorkers are facing twin crises right now: an authoritarian administration and an affordability crisis,” he stated. “And it will be my job to address both.”
Mamdani spoke about “shielding” New York City from Trump, which, according to him, means “protecting those with the least power from the man who holds the most power in this country.”
But Mamdani reiterated several times that he is willing to work with anyone, even Trump, if they can help New Yorkers. He stated that neither the president nor anyone from the White House has reached out to him following his victory.
Trump hinted on Wednesday that he might also be open to working with Mamdani.
“We want New York to succeed,” Trump said. “We’ll help him, a little, maybe.”
Echoes of Trump
Nearly a decade ago, Trump was the bold but untested candidate who achieved a remarkable political victory by building a populist coalition, leveraging social media, commanding media attention, and promising a wave of change.
Those same traits have helped Mamdani rise to become the next mayor of Trump’s hometown and the largest city in the country.
Mamdani offered a glimpse on Wednesday of how he plans to use those messages against the president. He criticized the high cost of groceries, something Trump repeatedly mentioned during last year’s campaign, and pointed out that the president’s refusal to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is “making it harder to pay for those same groceries whose price he criticized not long ago.”
But instead of viewing Mamdani as a Democratic analogue to his own path to power, Trump has portrayed him as an antagonist and a reason why he might seek to punish or take control of the city.
While most presidents do not spend time clashing with elected local officials, Trump is not like most presidents, and New York City holds special significance for him.
The former reality star born in Queens made his fame in Manhattan, where he became a television personality from his luxurious apartment and then launched his presidential campaign after descending from his golden escalator.
Trump has paid particular attention to the city, trying to stop the imposition of transport fees, attempting to cancel the construction of tunnels under the Hudson River, and insisting last year on holding a mega-rally at Madison Square Garden despite his unpopularity in the city.
As the city prepared to elect its next mayor, Trump was unusually active. He attacked Mamdani on social media, falsely labeling him a communist, and eventually endorsed Cuomo.
And in the fall, Trump administration intermediaries approached Adams to try to persuade him to drop his re-election campaign in an attempt to block Mamdani’s path to victory.
In the lead-up to the election, Trump maintained that he would likely cut federal funding to the city if Mamdani won, writing on social media that “it’s very unlikely I would be contributing federal funds, apart from the bare minimum required.”
The White House and the Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a message on Wednesday regarding federal funds that Trump might attempt to withhold from the city.
However, he had already tried to punish the city this year as part of a broader pattern of asserting power over Democratic elected officials who have criticized him, including withholding funds for some infrastructure projects during the government shutdown and trying to cut grants aimed at addressing migrant costs.
The threats have also resonated with some voters.
Amy Snyder, an art advisor who voted for Cuomo, expressed fears that Mamdani “won’t be able to stand up to Trump.”
Ariel Kohane, a registered Republican who voted for Cuomo but has supported Trump multiple times, asserted that he expects the president to do everything possible to prevent Mamdani from achieving his agenda.
“Trump is probablly gonna have to send the National Guard and ICE agents too,” Kohane claimed.
Wacef Chowdhury, a volunteer for Mamdani’s campaign, expressed that he fully anticipated Trump will attempt to punish the city in retaliation for the democratic socialist’s win.
“We know he’ll try, but we’re ready,” Chowdhury stated, who works in finance.
Agencies