A day before New Yorkers cast their ballots for the city’s next leader, US President Donald Trump has weighed in, urging residents to back Andrew Cuomo over frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.
His intervention comes as the final stretch of the mayoral race intensifies, adding another dramatic twist to an already heated contest.
Trump, speaking through a social media message on Monday evening, told voters they should rally around Cuomo, even if they do not personally favour him.
“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 wrote. “He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”
The president’s remarks reinforced comments he made in a weekend television interview, where he said he would be hesitant to release federal funding to New York if Mamdani wins
. “It's gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York, because if you have a Communist running New York, all you're doing is wasting the money you're sending there,” Trump said. He later added that federal support would likely be limited to the “very minimum as required” under a Mamdani administration.
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, is leading in opinion surveys. Cuomo, who served as governor and entered the race as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary, sits in second place. Curtis Sliwa, the Republican challenger, trails in third. Yet Trump did not endorse Sliwa, instead cautioning that backing him would benefit Mamdani.
“A vote for Curtis Sliwa ... is a vote for Mamdani,” he posted.
Trump has repeatedly clashed with Democratic city leaders during his time in office, often threatening to restrict funding to Democratic-run cities and deploying federal forces to address crime.
New York, which is receiving billions in federal resources this year, could face new funding obstacles depending on Tuesday’s outcome.
Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman who describes himself as a democratic socialist, has rejected accusations that he is a communist. In a past interview, he joked he was “kind of like a Scandinavian politician”, only browner.
He has positioned his campaign as a break from both Trump and Cuomo, saying on Monday that New Yorkers want a hopeful alternative. “The answer to a Donald Trump presidency is not to create its mirror image here in City Hall,” he said.
“It is to create an alternative that can speak to what New Yorkers are so desperate to see… a city that believes in the dignity of everyone who calls this place home.”
Cuomo has responded by pointing to his experience leading a large state and navigating strained relations with Washington during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I fought Donald Trump,” he said in a debate. “When I'm fighting for New York, I am not going to stop.”
As polls prepare to open, the final push from both sides has placed national politics squarely at the centre of a city election, highlighting how the outcome could influence New York’s ties with the White House and its future path.
