Trump aides review funds for New York City after Mamdani win
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Mr Zohran Mamdani said he will be reaching out to the White House as he prepares to take office, calling it a relationship "critical to the success of the city".
PHOTO: AMIR HAMJA/NYTIMES
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NEW YORK – Aides to President Donald Trump have spent the days following Mr Zohran Mamdani’s victory
The administration is waiting on Mr Trump to green-light any funding freeze, according to the official, who discussed the preparations on condition of anonymity before the president makes a decision.
The White House and the mayor-elect’s transition team have not been in correspondence, the official added.
The White House official did not detail specific programs that could be on the chopping block if Mr Trump, who repeatedly sought to rally voters against Mr Mamdani ahead of the election, follows through on threats to pull funding from the city.
“I will be reaching out to the White House as we prepare to actually take office because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of the city,” Mr Mamdani said in an interview with NBC New York that aired on Nov 11.
“I’ll say that I’m here to work for the benefit of everyone that calls this city home, and wherever there’s a possibility for working together towards that end, I’m ready, and if it’s to the expense of those New Yorkers, I’ll fight it.”
Mr Mamdani was elected last week as the 111th mayor of New York after campaigning on a staunchly progressive platform that includes freezing the rent on more than 1 million stabilised apartments, providing universal child care, funding free buses and operating city-owned grocery stores – an agenda he aims to pay for with new taxes on corporations and the highest-earners.
That message rattled New York’s business and financial elite – and many of its most prominent Democrats – sparking a furious pushback.
Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, endorsed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, one of Mr Mamdani’s opponents, and contributed to a political action committee supporting his candidacy.
In his victory speech last week, Mr Mamdani directly addressed the president.
“So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: ‘Turn the volume up,’” he said, adding: “To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Mr Trump during the campaign repeatedly assailed Mr Mamdani as a “communist” and warned his election would be devastating to New York’s status as the world’s financial capital.
A native New Yorker, the president pushed voters to coalesce behind Mr Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mr Mamdani, and tried to pressure other candidates, including Republican Curtis Sliwa, to drop out.
Funding threat
Mr Mamdani’s election now offers the president a chance to increase his scrutiny of the country’s most populous city, setting up a clash over policies on the economy, crime and immigration that will be closely watched ahead of 2026’s midterm elections.
After the election, Mr Trump said in an interview on Fox News that he wanted to see “the new mayor do well, because I love New York” but cautioned Mr Mamdani to be “respectful of Washington” if he wanted to be successful in office.
If Mr Trump does make good on earlier threats to reduce funding that would be a major hit to the city – and New York state – as they grapple with the economic fallout from his cuts to federal agencies and a US government shutdown now in its second month.
New York City received almost US$10 billion in federal funds in fiscal year 2025, comprising 8.3 per cent of total spending for its operating budget, according to the city’s comptroller’s office.
That funding went toward education, housing, social services and other programs for low-income households.
The city is also home to the Democratic Party’s leaders in both the US House and Senate, making it a target for political retaliation from Mr Trump and his allies.
Yet cuts to key programs in Democratic-leaning areas also come with political risk.
On Oct 1, the government shutdown’s first day, the White House halted US$18 billion (S$23.4 billion) in New York infrastructure funding, citing concerns over diversity and inclusion practices.
New York is investing significantly in transit-related projects to ease congestion and facilitate necessary upgrades to aging systems, with federal funding providing key support.
The moves sparked a political backlash against Trump-endorsed Republican candidates in commuter-rich portions of neighboring New Jersey, which swung away from the GOP as Democrats won the state’s tightly-contested gubernatorial election by a larger margin than polls had forecast. BLOOMBERG
