President Donald Trump lashed out at New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday, warning that he might use federal power to intervene in city governance if Mamdani wins in November. “As President of the United States, I’m not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York,” Trump wrote on X. “Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I’ll save New York City, and make it ‘Hot’ and ‘Great’ again, just like I did with the Good Ol’ USA!”
Trump also threatened to investigate Mamdani’s legal status and arrest him if he obstructs planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the city.
Mamdani’s surprise win in the Democratic mayoral primary in June has stirred anxiety among Republicans and moderates alike. The 33-year-old democratic socialist and Queens assemblyman has quickly become a symbol of a shifting political tide in America’s largest city.
Among his more controversial proposals is a plan to overhaul the property tax system by shifting the burden from working-class outer borough neighborhoods to “richer and whiter” areas like Manhattan and affluent Brooklyn. His campaign argues that outdated tax caps benefit wealthy homeowners while low-income communities—often Black, Latino, and immigrant—pay disproportionately higher taxes and face foreclosure risk.
To address these disparities, Mamdani proposes reducing taxes for overburdened neighborhoods and increasing rates for luxury properties. His plan includes a $10 million “Tangled Title Fund” to help residents secure legal ownership of inherited homes, particularly in communities of color where deed issues are more common.
The candidate, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, links these initiatives to broader goals of economic and racial justice. His housing platform criticizes tax lien sales to Wall Street investors as discriminatory, vowing to abolish the practice on day one.
Mamdani also calls for freezing rents for 2.4 million tenants, expanding public housing, and creating 200,000 new affordable homes. Critics argue that such measures could further strain the city’s already pressured rental market, but supporters see them as necessary reforms to protect vulnerable communities.
