New York Mayor Election Updates: Zohran Mamdani says Trump ‘threatened’ by his NYC mayoral campaign

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said President Donald Trump is “threatened” by his campaign after Trump warned that the city’s “survival” is at risk if Mamdani wins. Trump endorsed former Governor Andrew Cuomo, calling Mamdani a “Communist” unfit to lead the city. Mamdani hit back, accusing Trump of trying to withhold funds owed to New Yorkers. The 34-year-old Indian-origin Democrat has promised rent freezes and affordable housing if elected mayor.

As New York’s mayoral race heats up, frontrunner Zohran Mamdani stands poised to make history as the city’s first Muslim and Indian-American mayor. Born in Uganda to acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani, his roots trace deeply to India. Mamdani often speaks proudly of his Hindu mother’s heritage and the cultural traditions he grew up with. He says values from festivals like Diwali and Holi continue to shape his identity as an Indian-American leader.

New Yorkers are projected to elect leftist candidate Zohran Mamdani as mayor, a historic win that could make him the city’s first Muslim leader. The self-described socialist leads Andrew Cuomo by seven points in the latest polls. Donald Trump has warned that federal funding for New York would be “highly unlikely” if Mamdani wins, hinting at tensions ahead. The election marks a major test for Democrats as key governor races unfold in Virginia and New Jersey.

Former US President Barack Obama has refused to endorse New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, despite speaking with him by phone on Saturday. Mamdani’s adviser Patrick Gaspard said Obama avoids local endorsements, though records show he has backed several mayors before. Obama was in nearby New Jersey campaigning for Gov. Mikie Sherrill but made no public show of support for Mamdani.

After Trump and Musk came out in support of Andrew Cuomo, Zohran Mamdani accused them of being afraid of his agenda, saying they were both worried that “we will accomplish everything they have run on.” “They fear the power of an example,” he said, “an example that can show that it need not be this hard to call this city home.”

Taking to Truth Social, Donald Trump threw his support behind Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo and said, "If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home, because of the fact that, as a Communist, this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival! It can only get worse with a Communist at the helm, and I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad. It is my obligation to run the Nation, and it is my strong conviction that New York City will be a Complete and Total Economic and Social Disaster should Mamdani win. His principles have been tested for over a thousand years, and never once have they been successful. I would much rather see a Democrat, who has had a Record of Success, WIN, than a Communist with no experience and a Record of COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAILURE. He was nothing as an Assemblyman, ranked at the bottom of the class and, as Mayor of potentially, again, the Greatest City in the World, HE HAS NO CHANCE to bring it back to its former Glory! We must also remember this — A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani. 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!" Read more

As the New York mayoral race hots up, Tesla chief and tech billionaire Elon Musk has thrown his support behind Andrew Cuomo and advised New Yorkers to not go for the 'socialist' Zohran Mamdani.

After a frenetic five-month general election campaign, the final day of New York City’s mayoral race before Election Day has arrived. In the last hours of the race, the candidates made their final appeals to undecided voters.

The Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa were crisscrossing the city on Monday delivering closing messages to New Yorkers after a record-setting early-voting period.

As of October 28, Zohran Mamdani has spent almost $12.8 million this year, with an additional $4 million in the bank, according to New York City’s campaign finance board. Cuomo, by comparison, has spent $12.1 million with $900,000 in the bank. Sliwa has spent almost $5.1 million and has $866,000 left.

US President Donald Trump has said he would be reluctant to send federal funding to his hometown of New York City if left-wing front-runner Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor of America's biggest city this week.

"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 in a television interview, BBC reported.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams endorsed Andrew Cuomo in the city’s mayoral election, throwing his weight behind a bitter rival he recently called a “snake and a liar” as the former governor tries to defeat Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.

Adams, who dropped his own reelection bid last month, made the announcement while standing alongside Cuomo at a Harlem housing project, lashing out at Mamdani as a “snake-oil salesman” and the “king of the gentrifiers.”

The past few days have been busy for Mamdani, who has been on a campaign spree, receiving backing by prominent leftists like House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, US Representative Jerrold Nadler, who represents Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, and reportedly even former President Barack Obama.

The pro-Trump billionaire Bill Ackman has warned New Yorkers that Mamdani’s personality is a fraud. “The whole thing is an act,” Ackman posted on X after the mayoral debate last month. “After watching him recreate his fake smile, your skin will start to crawl.” Ackman gave $1m to the anti-Mamdani effort through the Super Pac Defend NYC, while former mayor Mike Bloomberg has contributed more than that to efforts to thwart Mamdani’s rise; Bloomberg gave $1.5m to a pro-Cuomo Super Pac, after spending millions to help Cuomo in June’s primary.

New Yorkers will head to the polls on Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. to cast their final votes in a high-profile mayoral race and several key city contests.

The three-way battle for mayor, between Democrat Zohran Mamdani, independent Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, has drawn national attention. Polls show Mamdani maintaining a lead, though recent surveys suggest Cuomo is closing in as voting begins.

Voters will also decide races for public advocate, comptroller, borough presidents, City Council seats, and judicial positions. Six ballot proposals are on the docket, three concerning the City Council’s role in land use decisions, and three addressing state land, a city map update, and election-year alignment.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, 34, is a Uganda-born, New York–raised state Assemblymember and the Democratic frontrunner in the city’s 2025 mayoral race. The son of a Ugandan-Indian academic and an Indian filmmaker, Mamdani studied Africana Studies at Bowdoin College before working as a housing counselor in Queens.

A self-described democratic socialist, Mamdani has built his campaign around affordability and social equity. His platform includes rent freezes, fare-free buses, free childcare, and city-run not-for-profit grocery stores — funded by higher corporate taxes and a 2 percent levy on millionaires.