US President Donald Trump has publicly relished New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s status as a fraud, calling him a communist, mocking the name of the first Muslim and South Asian to lead America’s largest city and threatening to cut federal funding to New York City.
According to a report by The New York Times, Trump also claimed to be “much better looking” than 34-year-old Mamdani.
But privately, the US president described Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, as a talented politician, calling him “polished” and a “good speaker,” according to two sources who spoke to the NYT on condition of anonymity.
Despite the grudging praise, the two appear ready for a confrontation, with the young democratic socialist facing a president who has already treated him like a convenient impostor.
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Just hours after Mamdani’s surprise victory, Trump called Democrats “crazy” and said Mamdani was “crazy or whatever the hell his name is.”
Enemies with “advantages”
In his victory speech, Mamdani said: “Donald Trump, because I know you’re watching, I have four words for you – turn up the volume!” to a huge cheer from the crowd.
Trump and Mamdani share, at least in part, an “enemies with benefits” dynamic.
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During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani used Trump as a scarecrow, accusing him of “fascism” and comparing the billionaire developer to landlords he says are exploiting New Yorkers.
He also smartly positioned himself as part of the backlash against a president who stretched his power to the limit, deploying the National Guard in Democratic-controlled cities.
At his victory rally, Mamdani declared, “To get to one of us, you’ll have to go through all of us.”
As Republicans healed from defeats in New York, Virginia and New Jersey, Trump said in a speech in Miami on Wednesday that Americans now faced “a choice between communism and common sense.”
Trump also blew the dog whistle on the hard right.
“Mandami, whatever the hell her name is,” Trump said in the same speech — deliberately mispronouncing Ugandan-born Mamdani’s last name in the same way he did his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris.
Trump threatens again?
Trump has repeatedly threatened to federally target New York, his beloved home city, similar to his previous threats to Los Angeles and Chicago.
“If he’s a communist, there’s not going to be a lot of activity,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “So you won’t need the bridges and tunnels and all the different things that were planned for New York.”
Some allies, meanwhile, fear Trump could be playing with fire by targeting a man whose rise has been fueled by an affordability crisis that is now hurting Republicans in the polls, AFP reported.
“There should be red lights flashing everywhere” for Trump, former White House strategy guru Steve Bannon told Politico. “People understand better that they have a fight on their hands. This guy is a serious guy.”
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New York City, which has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, has expressed concern about Mamdani’s stance as he has faced criticism for his reluctance to condemn the phrase “globalizing the intifada” and for not explicitly recognizing Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
Amid rising anti-Semitic incidents in the city, community leaders have voiced their concerns. However, the newly elected mayor condemned the anti-Semitic violence and pledged to protect the Jewish community.
(With input from agencies)
