President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral race, warning that federal funding for the city could be slashed if Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdaniwins.
“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday night. “You must vote for him, Mamdani is not [capable]!”
Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an Independent, downplayed the endorsement, saying, “He’s not endorsing me. He’s opposing Mamdani.”
Trump, a lifelong New Yorker and a Republican, said he would provide only the “very minimum” level of federal funding to the city if Mamdani takes office, repeating his criticism that the left-wing candidate is a “communist.”
“If you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there,” Trump told CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday.
Mamdani, 34, a Democratic Socialist and state assemblyman, dismissed Trump’s warning as “a threat, not the law.” If elected, he would be New York City’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in more than a century.
Polls show Mamdani leading Cuomo, with Republican Curtis Sliwa trailing. Trump declined to back Sliwa, arguing that “a vote for Sliwa, is a vote for Mamdani.”
Cuomo has sought to present himself as the only candidate experienced enough to handle the Trump administration, citing his years as governor during the COVID-19 pandemic and his frequent clashes with Trump.
“I fought Donald Trump,” Cuomo said during a debate. “When I’m fighting for New York, I am not going to stop.”
The Trump administration has a history of threatening to cut federal aid to Democratic-led cities, and New York received $7.4 billion in federal funds this fiscal year.
Mamdani fired back that Trump’s “MAGA movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo” proves the former governor “would be the best mayor for Donald Trump not for New York City.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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