President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off $7.4 billion in yearly federal funding to New York City – which goes against multiple Constitutional provisions as well as federal laws – if progressive candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral election in November. The threat marks a direct attempt by Trump to change the outcome of the race in the nation’s largest city.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old New York state assemblyman and democratic socialist, is currently leading the polls after beating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary. His campaign focuses on progressive policies including rent freezes, free public transit, and higher minimum wages. The race took a new turn on Sunday when current Mayor Eric Adams dropped out, leaving Mamdani, Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa as the main candidates.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday that Mamdani “won’t be getting any of it” and questioned “what’s the point of voting for him?” The president called Mamdani’s ideology something that “has failed, always, for thousands of years.” Trump also wrote that Mamdani “is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City.”
Mamdani has a strategy to fight back against federal funding threats
During a CNN interview on Monday evening, Mamdani firmly said no to the idea of losing federal funding. When host Erin Burnett asked if he was okay with New York City possibly losing the $7.4 billion, Mamdani responded, “No, we will fight for every single dollar that the city currently receives from the federal government.”
Mamdani pointed to California’s successful legal strategy as his model for fighting back. He said that “the best way to respond to Donald Trump’s threats is responding with strength.” California’s attorney general said they won more than $30,000 for every dollar spent on lawsuits against federal funding threats. This shows that legal action can work well against Trump’s administration.
Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said in August that they protected more than $168 billion in federal funding through court efforts. The state filed 37 lawsuits in just six months. They succeeded in 17 out of 19 cases where district courts made early decisions. These wins show that states can beat the Trump administration in court when it tries to hold back federal money.
Legal history supports Mamdani’s position. In April, a federal judge ruled the Trump administration cannot deny federal funds to sanctuary cities. The judge said the U.S. government cannot force local areas to help with federal immigration enforcement. Last week, New York state won its lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security for holding back disaster relief funding over sanctuary policies. These court wins suggest that Trump’s threats may face big legal problems if Mamdani wins the election on November 4.