NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- President Donald Trump floated the idea of launching a federal takeover of New York City if Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor in the fall, saying “we have tremendous power.”
Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Trump called Mamdani a “disaster” who has sold New Yorkers a “good line of bulls***.” He then suggested a federal takeover of the city.
“If a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same,” Trump said. “But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to.”
Without going into specifics, Trump added that he’ll “straighten out New York.”
“We’re going to do something for New York,” he said. “I can’t tell you what yet. But we’re going to make New York great again also. We’re going to make it great again with the country.”
The president later went on to say: “New York City will run properly. We’re going to bring New York back. I love New York. You know, I loved New York for a long time, then we had a bunch of crooked people in there.”
Trump said Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate, “runs every four years” and noted that Eric Adams is the current officeholder. Adams, a Democrat, is running as an independent.
Mamdani’s support continues to grow in the city—he has received a record number of votes as more ranked-choice voting results come in, and he has secured more endorsements.
On Tuesday, the progressive candidate received the endorsement of the powerful United Federation of Teachers—a union with some 200,000 members in NYC public schools. The union endorsed Mayor Eric Adams in 2021.
At a rally Wednesday with the UFT, Mamdani addressed Trump's comments, saying, "[Trump] said that if I was elected that he would have to take over New York City. I am proud to have received the most votes of any democratic nominee for mayor in a primary in New York City history."
He was referencing new tallies from city election officials showing that Mamdani has received the most mayoral primary ballots of any candidate in the city's history—more than 565,000 votes.
“With the updated RCV totals just released by the Board of Elections, our campaign has officially earned the most total votes in a primary in New York City history,” Mamdani wrote on X.
Mamdani has previously said he won't be intimidated by Trump's comments about him, including previous threats to arrest and deport him.