“Communist Running New York”: Trump Threatens to Pull Funds if Mamdani Wins

New York (QNN)- US President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from New York City if Zohran Mamdani wins Tuesday’s mayoral election, calling him a “communist.”

On the eve of New York’s mayoral election, Trump issued a threat to its voters: stop Zohran Mamdani or pay.

“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 as required, to my beloved first home,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad.”

“I would much rather see a Democrat, who has had a Record of Success, WIN, than a Communist with no experience and a Record of COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAILURE,” Trump wrote.

During his appearance on CBS’s 60 minutes on Sunday, Trump also said: “It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York, because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”

In an interview on Fox News later, Cuomo said: “We need a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump.” He repeated Trump’s threat to stop funding the city and send in the national guard. “Trump will go through Mamdani like a hot knife through butter,” Cuomo said.

Later on Monday, Mamdani responded publicly to Trump’s remarks at a campaign event in Astoria, Queens, saying that he had known “for months” that Trump would support Cuomo.

“In these final days, what was rumored, what was feared, has become, naked and unabashed,” he said, according to the New York Times. “The Maga movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo is reflective of Donald Trump’s understanding that this would be the best mayor for him – not the best mayor for New York City, not the best mayor for New Yorkers, but the best mayor for Donald Trump and his administration.”

Mamdani also noted that he would “address that threat for what it is: it is a threat. It is not the law.

“And too often, we treat everything that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth as if it is already legal, just by virtue of who is saying it.”

He later added: “This funding is not something that Donald Trump is giving us here in New York City. This is something that we are, in fact, owed in New York.”

Recent polling suggests that Mamdani has at least a 10 point lead over both opponents. Atlas Intel poll ending 30 October shows Mamdani leading with 41% in support, compared to Cuomo with 34% support and Sliwa getting 24% support.

If Mamdani is elected, as many observers believe is likely, then he will become the city’s first Democratic Socialist, South Asian, or Muslim to hold that position since the first mayor took office in 1665.

Mamdani’s views on Israel’s war on Gaza, which he has described as genocide, have mobilised both supporters and opponents.

He told Mehdi Hasan that he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he entered New York City. “As mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu,” Mamdani said in December 2024. “This is a city that our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also.” Mamdani has since walked back such comments.

His vocal support of Palestinians, his position against Israeli occupation as he has also said he would review any Israel-linked investments made by the city, and his criticism of Israel have driven pro-Israelis to label him as antisemitic.

78 percent of New Yorkers who voted in the primary agreed with him that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, while 79 percent agreed that weapons transfers to Israel should be restricted.