Trump backs Cuomo in NYC mayoral race, threatens to cut funds if Mamdani wins

United States President Donald Trump has urged his supporters to back former Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s mayoral election, and warned he may restrict federal funding to the city if Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani wins.

The endorsement, made Monday on Trump’s Truth Social platform, came just hours before polls opened in one of the most closely watched races in years.

“It is my strong conviction that New York City will be a Complete and Total Economic and Social Disaster should Mamdani win,” Trump wrote, calling the 34-year-old assemblyman a “Communist with no experience and a Record of COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAILURE.”

Trump said he would “rather see Cuomo, a Democrat, who has had a Record of Success, WIN,” and told Republicans that voting for their party’s own candidate, Curtis Sliwa, would effectively be “a vote for Mamdani.”

He added that if Mamdani takes office, “it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required.”

Polls show Mamdani leading with 45.8 percent, followed by Cuomo at 31.1 percent and Sliwa at 17.3 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.

Mamdani, a progressive Democrat and self-described “democratic socialist,” has run on promises of rent freezes, free public buses and universal childcare — policies he says will make New York “a city for the many, not the few.”

“If [Cuomo is] elected as mayor, our city will descend deeper into the darkness that has forced too many of our neighbours to flee,” Mamdani told supporters at a sunrise rally on the Brooklyn Bridge. The crowd responded with chants of “Our time is now!”

If elected, Mamdani would become New York’s first Muslim mayor, as well as its first African-born and South Asian leader.

Cuomo, 67, who resigned as governor in 2021 following a sexual harassment scandal, has sought to appeal to centrist and conservative voters. “Socialism didn’t work in Venezuela. Socialism didn’t work in Cuba. Socialism is not going to work in New York City,” he said during his final campaign stop in the Bronx.

Asked about Trump’s endorsement, Cuomo didn’t distance himself.

“The president is right. A vote for Sliwa is a vote for Mamdani,” he said on WABC Radio, urging Republicans to rally behind him.

Despite being the Republican nominee, Sliwa — founder of The Guardian Angels — has broken with Trump on immigration policy and sought to position himself as a populist alternative focused on safety, homelessness and animal welfare.

“I’m running because this city deserves safety, accountability, and leadership that won’t look the other way,” Sliwa said on Monday.

Early voting has shattered records, with over 735,000 ballots cast in nine daysm four times the total from 2021, according to the New York City Board of Elections.