Trump warns NYC will face ‘total disaster’ if Mamdani wins, endorses Cuomo for mayor
New York: US President Donald Trump has warned that New York City would become a “complete and total economic and social disaster” if Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral election, saying the city’s “survival” would be at risk. On the eve of the polls, Trump officially endorsed former New York governor Andrew Cuomo for the top post.
In a post on Truth Social late Monday, Trump said he would provide only the minimum-required federal funding to New York City if Mamdani were elected.
“If Communist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the election for mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing federal funds, other than the very minimum required, to my beloved first home,” Trump wrote.
“With a Communist at the helm, this once-great city has zero chance of success or even survival. It can only get worse.”
Endorsing Cuomo, Trump urged New Yorkers to support the former governor regardless of personal opinions about him.
“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!” he said.
Mamdani, 34, a New York State Assembly member of Indian descent, was born in Uganda and raised in the city. A self-described Democratic socialist, he faces Cuomo, running as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in Tuesday’s vote.
Trump accused Mamdani of being “a nothing” during his tenure in the Assembly and “ranked at the bottom of the class.”
“As mayor of potentially the greatest city in the world, he has no chance to bring it back to its former glory,” Trump added, calling Mamdani’s ideology “a record of complete and total failure.”
He also cautioned that voting for Sliwa would only help Mamdani.
“A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani,” Trump said.
Current mayor Eric Adams exited the race in September amid scandals in his administration.
Election Day across the US is November 4, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. More than 735,000 New Yorkers cast early ballots this year—four times the number from 2021.
Mamdani, son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan author Mahmood Mamdani, had defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary earlier in June.
Positioning himself as a champion for affordability, Mamdani has pledged to freeze rent for all stabilized tenants and ramp up affordable housing construction to “make life easier for New Yorkers.”
Trump, however, has repeatedly branded him “a Communist” and “far worse than a Socialist.”
In a CBS 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, Trump said, “Mamdani will do a worse job than Bill de Blasio by far. If you have a Communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”
He added, “I’m not a fan of Cuomo, but between a bad Democrat and a Communist, I’ll pick the bad Democrat every time.”
