Trump Tells New Yorkers They 'Must Vote' For Cuomo While Attacking Mamdani

After months of reports about the ties between the two politicians, President Donald Trump posted an emphatic endorsement of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor, and again threatened to limit federal funds if State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani won.

“We must also remember this — A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani,” Trump wrote in a Monday Truth Social post urging voters to bypass Sliwa, the Republican nominee. “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”

Trump’s endorsement comes after a New York Times report suggested that he and Cuomo had a cozier relationship and had held a call about the election, something both leaders denied. Previously, Cuomo had also openly mused about how Trump could help sway Republican voters in his favor.

“Trump himself, as well as top Republicans, will say the goal is to stop Mamdani. And you’ll be wasting your vote on Sliwa. So I feel good about that,” Cuomo said at an August fundraiser, according to a Politico report.

Trump’s backing also follows frequent attacks he’s made against Mamdani, including xenophobic statements about his identity and repeated broadsides against his ideology as a Democratic socialist.

He has repeatedly and falsely labeled Mamdani as a “communist,” and suggested he could be arrested if he blocks Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city as mayor. Trump’s also amplified false claims that Mamdani, a naturalized citizen, is in the U.S. illegally.

On Monday, Trump echoed past threats he’s made about restricting federal funding to New York City under Mamdani’s potential leadership.

“If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!” Trump wrote.

“We will fight for every single dollar that the city currently receives from the federal government,” Mamdani previously said during a CNN interview, noting that the city is able to file lawsuits contesting efforts to withhold federal funds.

Mamdani has long pointed to Cuomo’s relationship with the president as a major vulnerability and argued Cuomo will be “Trump’s puppet” if elected as mayor. Cuomo has responded by saying that he stood up to Trump during the pandemic, and would do so again.

“In these final days, what was rumored, what was feared, has become naked and unabashed,” Mamdani told reporters in response to Trump’s post. “The MAGA movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo is reflective of Donald Trump’s understanding that this would be the best mayor for him.”