How Trump could hamper Zohran Mamdani’s New York agenda

Just minutes after Zohran Mamdani won the challenge to become New York City’s next mayor, the rising political star focused on his next challenge: taking on the president of the United States.

In his victory speech on Tuesday, Mamdani turned to the cameras to directly mock the president: “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn up the volume,” he said.

Minutes later, Trump responded on the social media site Truth Social: “…AND THAT’S HOW IT BEGINS!”

Since Mamdani won the Democratic primary in June, President Donald Trump has called the 34-year-old the “communist” future of the Democratic Party.

Ahead of the mayoral election, Trump supported former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo, who was running as an independent, and told New Yorkers he would cut funding to the city if they elected Mamdani.

It’s not the first time Trump, a born and raised New Yorker, has sought to meddle in the city’s affairs, from increasing immigration raids to defunding congestion pricing, a policy he opposes.

But Mamdani looks unhurried.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave birth to him,” he said in his victory speech.

Since taking office, Trump has used federal force against many Democratic-run cities, sent in national guard troops and cracked down on immigration across the United States.

It has also cut billions in funding to cities, including New York, where it has frozen $18bn (£13.6bn) of federal money for major infrastructure projects since the government shutdown on October 1.

Political experts told the BBC that Trump could easily make further cuts, which could thwart Mamdani’s campaign promise to reduce the cost of living.

The self-described democratic socialist had campaigned for free and faster buses, rent freezes for rent-stabilized housing, universal child care and city-run grocery stores, among other policy goals.

“The reality is that the mayor-elect will have to focus most of his attention on President Trump and the attacks on New York, as opposed to all the issues he wants to deal with,” said Julian Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton University. “This is going to be a problem for the city, and it’s also going to be a problem and a challenge for the mayor to focus.”

Mamdani did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Policy experts say Mamdani, a former state assemblyman, faces many challenges other than Trump in achieving his ambitious policy goals.

He suggested he could raise $10 billion in revenue by raising taxes on wealthy corporations and the top 1 percent of New York earners, but that would require approval from the state’s governor.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who faces a tough re-election bid next year, has so far been hesitant to support Mamdani’s tax plan. Trump ally Elise Stefanik says she will seek the Republican nomination for the state’s top job.

Trump could poke more holes in those plans if he further cuts federal funding, which accounted for nearly $8.5 billion last year, or 7% of the city’s total budget.

“Money is going to be an issue to do anything in the city,” Mr. Zelizer said. “But if federal dollars start to run out, that makes it much harder to do anything new.”

These funds are used for a range of services, including the housing department, emergency response to disasters and children’s services, as well as education funds and school meals for low-income students, according to New York City’s Independent Budget Office.

Trump did not specify which federal funds he would target.

New York is legally required to provide some of these services, such as funding homeless shelters. That means without federal funding, the city and state government will have to make up the difference by putting pressure on other programs, said Sarah Parker, senior research and strategy officer at New York City’s Independent Budget Office.

“There are a lot of contingency plans drawn up at the city and state level for many scenarios,” he said.

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, a professor of public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, said Trump will likely face legal challenges for withholding funds approved by Congress, which includes food aid.

“But this slows down the process of getting these funds to the people who need them,” he said.

Trump also used the threat of law enforcement against Democratic-led cities. He deployed National Guard troops across the country, including Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., framing the cities as crime-ridden places in need of federal intervention.

It has so far refrained from sending troops to the largest US city, but political experts say that could change.

“He already has the template,” Mr. Zelizer said. “It’s hard to imagine this not happening.”

Mamdani said he would pursue legal challenges to respond to the National Guard deployment in New York, as he has in other states. Many of the cases are still unclear and working their way through the courts.

Political experts also expect Trump to expand his crackdown on immigrants in New York, which has been a sanctuary city since the 1980s. This means the city is limiting its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The administration has already stepped up enforcement in the city’s immigration courts, where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have detained hundreds of people arriving for mandatory immigration hearings.

Current Mayor Eric Adams has mostly cooperated with the administration. But Mamdani, who came to the United States from Uganda when she was seven, signaled a different trajectory.

He said New York “will remain a city of immigrants, built by immigrants, supported by immigrants, and as of tonight, run by an immigrant.”

“So listen to me, President Trump, when I say this: You’re going to have to get through all of us to reach any of us,” he said on election night.

Adams did so after Trump’s Justice Department dismissed federal bribery and fraud charges against him. The move led to the resignation of a top New York prosecutor who alleged that Adams’ lawyers asked justice department officials to drop the case in exchange for enforcement of Trump’s immigration policies.

Bob Shapiro, a political science professor at Columbia University, said Mamdani will likely take time to formulate a strategy to respond to Trump’s initial moves because he won’t take office until January.

Other Democratic city leaders have taken a variety of approaches, including progressive Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who has frequently pushed back against the president. Trump once threatened to pull World Cup matches from the Massachusetts city.

In San Francisco, Mayor Daniel Lurie reportedly relied on tech industry leaders to dissuade Trump from sending National Guard troops to the city, arguing it would impact the economy.

Mr. Shapiro said Mamdani could make similar moves to avoid federal troops in New York and appeal to Wall Street leaders from a city where Trump made his career in real estate.

In a policy document on “protecting” New York City from Trump, the mayor-elect said the Trump administration plans to hire an additional 200 attorneys to beef up the city’s legal department to respond to “Presidential excess.”

De Benedictis-Kessner said Mamdani faces major challenges trying to implement his ambitious policy agenda, so he can pick and choose his battles with the president to build support for certain policies among anti-Trump New Yorkers.

“I think he would contact Trump if it would help him achieve his political goals,” he said. “And I think he’s too smart a politician to do that unless he doesn’t.”