Meeting Member and Democratic Mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani (left), Mayor Eric Adams, and President Donald Trump.
Photographs by Lloyd Mitchell and REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
President Donald Trump sought to place his thumb on the size of the NYC Mayor’s Race Tuesday — threatening to lock up newly minted Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani if he dares to intervene with ICE operations whereas showing to throw his help behind incumbent Mayor Eric Adams’ long-shot impartial reelection bid.
Throughout a July 1 go to to a Florida migrant detention heart dubbed as “Alligator Alcatraz,” Trump mentioned “we’ll have to arrest” Mamdani if he interferes with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Brokers (ICE) as mayor — one thing the Democratic mayoral nominee has mentioned he would do.
“Look, we don’t need a communist in this country,” Trump mentioned, referring to Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist and never a communist (democratic socialists and communists usually are not one and the identical). “But if we have one, I’m going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation.”
He additionally lied in suggesting that Mamdani, who turned a naturalized citizen in 2018, is within the nation illegally.
Trump’s feedback got here as Mamdani clinched the Democratic nomination in ranked-choice voting tabulations launched by town Board of Elections on Tuesday. Mamdani gained within the third spherical of ranked-choice with 56% of the vote, beating out second-place contender former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by 12 factors.
Mamdani mentioned he refused to be intimidated by Trump’s remarks.
“The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city,” Mamdani mentioned in a press release. “His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you. We will not accept this intimidation.”
Trump lauds Adams
Trump additionally sang the praises of Mayor Adams, who final week launched his personal impartial reelection marketing campaign after sitting out the Democratic main.
“You have a good independent running, Mayor Adams, who’s a very good person,” Trump mentioned.
The president, whose Justice Division efficiently dismissed the mayor’s federal corruption case introduced beneath former President Biden, mentioned he “helped [Adams] out a little bit” when the mayor “had a problem” — referring to his indictment. Trump repeated the unfounded declare that Adams was charged as a result of he regularly criticized Biden over the inflow of 200,000-plus migrants into town.
“He was unfairly hurt over this question,” Trump mentioned. “He made a statement to the effect that ‘this is terrible, New York can’t have all these immigrants come in and he was indicted the following day. And I said ‘that was a phony indictment.’ And it was a phony indictment. It was a Biden indictment.”
The mayor was charged with soliciting and accepting unreported overseas journey perks and illicit marketing campaign contributions from Turkish nationals in change for official favors. Federal Decide Dale Ho dismissed the fees in April on the DOJ’s behest, a call Ho mentioned was not based mostly on the deserves of the case.
The DOJ’s transfer fueled allegations that Adams engaged in a quid professional quo with Trump to have his costs dropped in change for finishing up the president’s immigration agenda within the 5 boroughs. Adams has repeatedly denied that he made a deal.
The town’s sanctuary legal guidelines bar the mayoral administration from collaborating with ICE on most deportation circumstances, that are civil issues. Adams insists he has adopted these statutes whereas working with ICE on legal investigations involving undocumented immigrants.
The mayor, when requested about Trump’s feedback on arresting Mamdani, mentioned nobody ought to intervene with ICE’s operations within the metropolis.
“The president makes his determination what he’s going to do,” Adams mentioned following an unrelated Tuesday afternoon press convention at 1 Police Plaza. “I’m not a federal elected official. I keep saying, I’m the city elected official, the mayor of the greatest city in the world, that’s New York City.”
Adams declined to touch upon Trump showing to again his reelection bid.
Mamdani mentioned Trump’s obvious help for Adams’ candidacy is “unsurprising, however highlights the urgency of bringing an finish to this Mayor’s time in Metropolis Corridor.
“It is a scandal that Eric Adams echoes this President’s division, distraction and hate,” he mentioned. “Voters will resoundingly reject it in November.”
