Miami, Nov 6: President Donald Trump lashed out at New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday, accusing him of delivering a “very angry” and “dangerous” victory speech that took direct aim at the White House.
“He’s off to a bad start,” Trump told Fox News in an interview from Miami. “He should be nice to me. You know, I’m the one that sort of has to approve a lot of things coming to him.”
Trump said the mayor-elect “has to be a little bit respectful of Washington,” adding, “If he’s not, he doesn’t have a chance of succeeding.”
Mamdani, who became the first immigrant to win New York’s top office, used his election-night speech to sharply criticize Trump and celebrate what he called the toppling of a “political dynasty.”
“After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani told cheering supporters. “This is not only how we stop Trump; it’s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”
He declared that New York would remain a city of immigrants, saying, “We will hold bad landlords to account because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants. We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks.”
Mamdani continued, “We will stand alongside unions and expand labor protection because we know, just as Donald Trump does, that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to extort them become very small indeed.”
“So hear me, President Trump,” he added. “To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Trump, who has often mocked progressive leaders, called Mamdani’s rhetoric “a very dangerous statement.” “You talk about danger — I think it’s a very dangerous statement for him to make,” the president said.
When asked if he planned to engage with Mamdani, Trump said the mayor-elect should make the first move. “He should reach out to us really,” he said. “I’m here. We’ll see what happens. But I would think it would be more appropriate for him to reach out.”
Despite his criticism, Trump said he wanted New York City to thrive. “I’m so torn, because I would like to see the new mayor do well, because I love New York. I really love New York,” he said.
Trump also accused Mamdani of being a communist. “Communism or the concept of communism has not worked,” he said. “I tend to doubt it’s going to work this time.”
The confrontation marks an early sign of tension between the White House and the city’s new leadership, setting the stage for a potentially combative relationship between Washington and America’s largest metropolis.
