US President Donald Trump during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025.
Photo: Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg/Getty Images
In the days since Zohran Mamdani was declared the city’s Democratic nominee for mayor, President Donald Trump has denounced the democratic socialist as a “communist” and threatened to arrest him. On Tuesday, Trump ramped up his rhetoric even further, suggesting a possible federal takeover of the city if Mamdani is elected to City Hall. In return, Mamdani’s campaign accused Trump of treating democracy “like a suggestion.”
During a televised Cabinet meeting, Trump was asked how Republican voters in the city should vote between Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, and the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa. He said he would not get involved in those talks, deriding Sliwa as a perpetual candidate who is a “fixture” of the political scene and saying former governor Andrew Cuomo got “knocked out” of the primary. But Trump once again criticized Mamdani, calling him a “disaster.”
“This is a man who is not very capable in my opinion, other than he’s got a good line of bullshit, and he’s convinced them to go with him,” he said.
Trump went on, suggesting the federal government could step in during a possible Mamdani term. “If a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same,” he said. “We have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to.”
The president raised Washington, D.C., as an example, claiming his administration is considering intervening in the city due to crime. “We’d get the best person to run it. The crime would be down to a minimal. It’d be much less,” he said. “We’re thinking about doing it, to be honest with you. We want a capital that’s run flawlessly, and it wouldn’t be hard for us to do it.”
Trump has previously floated revoking federal funds from New York City, but he gave no further details on his potential plans for a Mamdani administration. “New York City will run properly. We’re gonna bring New York back. I love New York,” he said. “We’re going to do something for New York. I can’t tell you what yet, but we’re going to make New York great again.”
Mamdani’s campaign condemned Trump’s words in a statement. “Donald Trump has once again chosen to treat democracy like a suggestion and insult the more than half a million New Yorkers who voted for Zohran Mamdani’s leadership and a city they can afford,” it reads. “Zohran Mamdani won with a mandate, receiving the most primary votes in New York City history and as mayor, he will not allow Donald Trump to tear this city apart.”
His words come as the general-election field still remains unsettled. Despite his double-digit loss to Mamdani in the primary, Cuomo has continued to leave the door open for a potential independent bid and skipped the deadline to remove his name from the ballot. Both Adams and Cuomo, likely aware that a field with more candidates could favor Mamdani, have urged the other to drop out. Neither side has appeared to budge.
For now, conditions still seem to favor Mamdani, who has continued to rack up endorsements, including one from the United Federation of Teachers, which did not endorse during the primary. A Slingshot Strategies poll issued Wednesday found Mamdani leading the field among registered voters with 35 percent, followed by Cuomo with 25 percent, Sliwa with 14 percent, and Adams with 11 percent. Thirteen percent of respondents said they were “not sure.”
