President Donald Trump once again threatened New York City against voting for Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, this time suggesting he'll personally intervene at the federal level to defund all of his policies if he wins.
"Self proclaimed New York City Communist, Zohran Mamdani, who is running for Mayor, will prove to be one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party," wrote Trump on his Truth Social platform, though Mamdani — a democratic socialist — has never proclaimed himself a communist.
"He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him?"
"This ideology has failed, always, for thousands of years. It will fail again, and that’s guaranteed! President DJT."
It's unclear what money Trump is talking about, but New York City is expected to receive less than 7 percent of its operating budget for next year from federal sources.
Mamdani, whom Trump has repeatedly and falsely described as a "Communist," is a progressive state legislator who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a come-from-behind upset for the Democratic nomination. He has previously worked with the Democratic Socialists of America, and has a number of policy proposals including stricter rent controls and publicly-run grocery stores in neighborhoods with few food options.
Trump has previously threatened to outright overturn the election results in New York if Mamdani wins, which he doesn't have the power to do. He has also worked behind the scenes to try to persuade incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, running as an independent, and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa, to drop out of the race, hoping that enough people can consolidate behind Cuomo — also now running as an independent — to block Mamdani from winning. Adams announced his exit from the race over the weekend.