Tension between US President Donald Trump and Zoharan Mamdani showed no signs of easing on Wednesday as the two took aim at each other’s political views, just hours after the 34-year-old democratic socialist was elected the next mayor of New York City.
“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn up the volume,” Mamdani, a Democrat, told the Republican president from the stage of a Brooklyn victory party.
Trump was watching, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt confirmed.
Trump was born in New York in 1946, and Mamdani said: “If anyone can show a country betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave birth to him.”
Trump says US has lost ‘sovereignty’ after Mamdani’s victory
Speaking at a business conference in Miami on Wednesday, Trump repeatedly mentioned Mamdani.
Trump said the US had lost “sovereignty” following Mamdani’s election victory.
The president said that Miami “will soon become a refuge for those fleeing communism in New York.”
“The decision facing all Americans could not be clearer: We have a choice between communism and common sense,” he said, adding that Democrats offered an “economic nightmare” and that their policies would provide an “economic miracle.”
The speech marked the first anniversary of Trump’s presidential election victory over Democrat Kamala Harris.
“We saved our economy, won our freedom, and 365 days ago, on that glorious night, together we saved our country,” Trump told his supporters.
But that didn’t stop Trump from lashing out at the New York mayor-elect, saying Mamdani was signaling a wave of Democrats in Washington.
“If you want to see what the congressional Democrats want to do to America, look at the results of yesterday’s election in New York, where their party appointed a Communist as mayor of the nation’s largest city,” Trump said.
Trump threatens to cut off New York City funding
Separately, in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News, Trump said he was willing to talk with Mamdani, but stressed that the new mayor would have to respect the financial support of Washington and New York City if he is to succeed.
Trump spent several months trying to undermine the Mamdani campaign.
He also threw his support behind the mayoral bid of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, himself a former Democrat who ran as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary in June.
Trump sidelined Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa while endorsing Cuomo. Trump said that the vote for Sliva would only help Mamdani get elected, urging New Yorkers to vote strategically to keep Mamdani out of office.
Why does Mamdani attract Trump’s ire?
Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a naturalized US citizen after graduating from college, presented himself as the embodiment of resistance against Trump, who has pursued an anti-immigrant agenda since being sworn in as president in January.
Mamdani said in his election speech, “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, run by immigrants, and as of tonight, it will be led by an immigrant.” “So listen to me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any one of us, you have to go through all of us.”
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru