Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani took direct aim at President Donald Trump during a press conference Thursday. The comments came amid a report that Trump is considering getting involved in the New York City mayoral race.
“Donald Trump has not called me,” Mamdani told reporters. But if he does, Mamdani says he’ll give him the same message he’s giving the public. “That’s what makes me different than Andrew Cuomo. Whatever I say on a sidewalk, I say in a press conference, I say in the morning—it’s the same agenda.”
Mamdani slammed Trump’s record and made it clear he plans to oppose the administration. “My approach to Washington will not be a reflexive one. It is one that will be in opposition to Donald Trump’s administration when it comes for New Yorkers,” he said.
He also took a swipe at Trump’s campaign promises. “If he wants to actually act upon the cheaper groceries he told us he would deliver—that is a different conversation.” But Mamdani says what really “threatens” Trump is the movement behind his campaign.
According to the New York Times, Trump has recently spoken with Andrew Cuomo and is weighing who has the best shot at defeating Mamdani—Cuomo, current mayor Eric Adams, or Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Mamdani accused Cuomo of trying to team up with Trump. “What I will not do…is pick up the phone to call Donald Trump to ask how we can work together to defeat the will of Democrats,” he said. “That’s what Andrew Cuomo did.”
Cuomo clapped back on X, calling Mamdani’s remarks nonsense. “Let’s be real—Donald Trump would go through you like a hot knife through butter,” Cuomo posted. “You would be a dream come true to the Republican party.”
The White House denied Trump plans to get involved. “As President Trump has repeatedly stated, he has no intention of getting involved or making an endorsement in the New York City mayoral race,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.