Trump Urges Mamdani to ‘Do the Right Thing’ If Elected NYC Mayor or Risk Losing Funding

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that New York City’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani must “do the right thing” if elected mayor, or the city may end up losing federal funds.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump called Mamdani a communist and warned of possible consequences if the 33-year-old state assemblyman were to refuse to comply with his administration’s policies should he be elected mayor.

“I can’t imagine it, but let’s say this, if he does get in, I’m going to be president and he’s going to have to do the right thing, or they’re not getting any money,” Trump said.

Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary on June 24. He will face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, in the 2025 general election.

The Democratic candidate responded to Trump’s accusations during an interview with NBC News on Sunday, dismissing claims that he is a communist.

“I am not, and I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I’m from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for,” Mamdani said. “I’m fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed.”

Mamdani is an Indian-Ugandan American state assemblyman who ran on a left-wing platform and was endorsed by the nation’s top progressive officials, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

During his campaign, he promised a rent freeze, the abolition of bus fares, city-run grocery stores with low prices, and no-cost child care, making the cost of living in New York City his signature issue.

Mamdani also vowed to reinforce New York’s sanctuary city apparatus by “getting ICE out of all city facilities and ending any cooperation, increasing legal support, and protecting all personal data,” according to his campaign website. He stated that Trump has deployed ICE agents to “pluck New Yorkers from their families.”

When asked about Mamdani’s pledge to fight ICE, Trump told Bartiromo that such an effort would be “very unsuccessful.”

In a June 26 interview with Fox Business, White House border czar Tom Homan said, “We’re going to be in New York City, matter of fact, because it’s a sanctuary city and President Trump made it clear a week and a half ago, we’re going to double down and triple down on sanctuary cities.”

Arjun Singh contributed to this report.