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Just moments after securing his victory to become New York City’s next mayor, Zohran Mamdani turned his attention to a new target — the president of the United States.
During his Tuesday evening victory speech, Mamdani looked into the cameras and said to the president, a native New Yorker: “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up.”
Trump responded moments later on his Truth Social platform: “…AND SO IT BEGINS!”
Trump endorsed Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor running as an independent, and warned that if voters elected Zohran Mamdani as mayor, he would move to cut federal funding to New York City.
The morning after Mamdani’s victory, Trump cautioned that residents would “flee” the city as a result of his election.
Still, Mamdani seemed unbothered by the president’s attention.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” he said during his victory speech.
Since returning to office, Trump has exercised federal authority to target several Democratic-led cities, deploying National Guard troops and tightening immigration enforcement across the country.
He has also withheld billions in federal funding since the government shutdown began on October 1, including $18 billion earmarked for major infrastructure projects in New York City.
Political analysts told the BBC that Trump could further reduce federal funding, a move that could complicate Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s ability to deliver on his campaign pledges of expanded public services and freebies to residents.
The self-described democratic socialist campaigned on a platform that included free and faster bus service, rent freezes for rent-stabilized apartments, universal childcare, and the creation of city-run grocery stores, among other policy proposals.
A city-run grocery store in Kansas City, Mo., Sun Fresh Market, closed permanently on August 12, 2025. The store, opened in 2018, received millions in taxpayer dollars but struggled with issues like empty shelves and crime, ultimately leading to its closure.
“The reality is the mayor-elect will have to focus a lot of his attention on President Trump and the attacks on New York, as opposed to all the issues he wants to deal with,” predicted Julian Zelizer, a professor of history at Princeton University. “It will be a problem for the city and it will also be a problem and a challenge for the mayor-elect to stay focused.”
Mamdani, a former state assemblyman, faces multiple hurdles beyond opposition from President Trump as he seeks to implement his ambitious policy agenda, according to policy experts.
He has proposed generating $10 billion in new revenue by raising taxes on wealthy corporations and the top one percent of earners in New York, a plan that would require approval from the state’s governor.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is preparing for a competitive re-election campaign next year, has been reluctant to endorse Mamdani’s tax proposal. Meanwhile, Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik has announced plans to seek the Republican nomination for governor.
Trump could further complicate Mamdani’s agenda by cutting additional federal funding to the city, which accounted for roughly $8.5 billion — about 7% of New York’s total budget — last year, the BBC noted.
“There is going to be a money issue to do anything in the city,” Zelizer told the outlet. “But if federal dollars start to deplete, that makes it much harder to do anything new.”
According to the New York City Independent Budget Office, those federal funds support a wide range of city services, including housing programs, disaster response, and children’s services, as well as education initiatives for low-income students and school meal programs.
Trump has not yet specified which federal funding streams he intends to target, the report said.
