President Donald Trump stunned the political world when he endorsed former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor Monday, urging voters to reject Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Trump warned he will withhold federal funds if socialist Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, wins.
Trump made the surprising cross-party endorsement one day before Tuesday’s mayoral election. He posted his support for Cuomo on Truth Social while threatening to cut funding to his former home city if Mamdani, whom Trump repeatedly calls a communist, becomes mayor.
“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.
“It can only get worse with a Communist at the helm, and I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad. It is my obligation to run the Nation, and it is my strong conviction that New York City will be a Complete and Total Economic and Social Disaster should Mamdani win,” Trump said in his statement.
Trump criticized Mamdani’s record as a New York State Assembly member, and said his radical ideas “have been tested for over a thousand years, and never once have they been successful.”
“He was nothing as an Assemblyman, ranked at the bottom of the class and, as Mayor of potentially, again, the Greatest City in the World, HE HAS NO CHANCE to bring it back to its former Glory!” Trump wrote.
“We must also remember this — A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani. 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 wrote.
Cuomo initially ran as a Democrat but launched an independent campaign after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani by more than 12 percentage points in July. Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Mamdani leads recent polls by approximately 10 percentage points. A Suffolk University poll showed Mamdani with 44 percent support, Cuomo at 34 percent, and Sliwa at 11 percent.
More than 735,000 New Yorkers cast ballots during early voting, more than four times the number who voted early in the 2021 mayoral election. It is the first time since 1969 that three major candidates appeared on the ballot in the New York City mayoral race.