Trump Endorses Cuomo for New York Mayor, Warns of Funding Cuts if Mamdani Wins

US President Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the city’s hotly contested mayoral race — and warned that federal funding could be slashed if Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani wins.

Speaking on Truth Social late Monday, Trump urged voters to back Cuomo despite their political differences.

“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.

The president made similar remarks during a CBS 60 Minutes interview, calling Mamdani a “communist” — a label the 34-year-old lawmaker has rejected.

“It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,” Trump said. “Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”

Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist and state assemblyman from Queens, dismissed Trump’s warning as “a threat, not the law.”

“I’ll address that threat for what it is,” he said. “The MAGA movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo only proves who Trump believes would be best for him, not for New Yorkers.”

The endorsement has upended the political dynamic ahead of the November vote. Mamdani leads most opinion polls, followed by Cuomo — who is running as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary — while Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa trails in third.

Trump, notably, refused to endorse Sliwa, warning that “a vote for Curtis Sliwa is a vote for Mamdani.”

Cuomo, who governed New York during the Covid-19 pandemic and has often clashed with Trump, shrugged off the endorsement, saying:

“He’s not endorsing me — he’s opposing Mamdani.”

If Mamdani wins, he would become New York City’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest in over a century.

Cuomo, however, has leaned on his experience in dealing with Trump-era policies, telling voters he’s the only candidate capable of standing up to the president.

“I fought Donald Trump,” he said during a recent debate. “When I’m fighting for New York, I don’t stop.”

New York City received $7.4 billion (£5.7 billion) in federal funding this fiscal year — money that could now be caught in the crossfire of a presidential feud spilling into local politics.