‘Drop dead’: US Treasury’s Bessent to New York City, on any Mamdani crisis bailout
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) says the plans of Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani will leave New York City seeking a bailout.
PHOTOS: AFP, SCOTT HEINS/NYTIMES
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- Treasury Secretary Bessent said the Trump administration would not bail out New York City if Mamdani's plans are implemented.
- Bessent predicts NYC will need a bailout if Mamdani's plans, including rent freezes and free services funded by tax hikes, proceed.
- Bessent referenced a 1975 NYC bailout denial, stating he'd tell NYC to "drop dead", echoing a famous tabloid headline.
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WASHINGTON - The Trump administration will not bail out New York City in any financial crisis if Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani
“I guarantee you - and there are not a lot of things in life that are sure - that New York City will be coming to the federal government for a bailout if the Mamdani plans are implemented,” Mr Bessent said, in an interview with Fox Business Network.
Asked if he would give the city a bailout under those circumstances, Mr Bessent said, “It will be the same thing that Gerald Ford said: ‘Drop dead.’”
While former president Ford never actually said those words, a New York tabloid headline used the phrase to capture the moment in 1975 when the Republican president refused to bail out New York as it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Mr Mamdani’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on Mr Bessent’s remarks.
Mr Bessent called Mr Mamdani the socialist protege of his social media sparring partner, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who spoke out this week against any potential bailout for Argentina’s government by the Trump administration.
The treasury secretary did not specify which plans of Mr Mamdani he thought could lead to financial trouble.
Mr Mamdani won his party’s nomination
His proposals include rent freezes, free city buses, city-owned grocery stores and free childcare, paid for by raising corporate taxes and imposing an extra 2 per cent tax on New Yorkers earning more than US$1 million (S$1.28 million) a year.
Mr Bessent was interviewed on Fox’s Mornings With Maria. REUTERS
