President Donald Trump has reportedly told close allies that he believes progressive Democrat Zohran Mamdani is unbeatable in the New York City mayor’s race.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a senior White House official said the president and his advisers think the 34-year-old Queens assemblyman is on course to defeat independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the November 4 election, The Independent reported.
The report said Trump’s team sees Mamdani’s “commanding lead” in the latest polling as virtually insurmountable.
Trump has also expressed skepticism that Sliwa dropping out would help Cuomo, despite his own son Eric Trump joining figures like Bill Ackman and John Catsimatidis in urging the Republican to step aside.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, the president appeared to give only reluctant support to Cuomo.
“It’s really a question of would I rather have a Democrat or a communist?” Trump said. “And I would rather have a Democrat than a communist.”
He added that if Sliwa dropped out, “maybe Cuomo would have a little bit of a chance, but not much.”
Sliwa has rejected calls to end his campaign and warned that anyone offering him money to quit could face criminal referral.
“I’m not budging,” Sliwa said. “Anyone who presents me with a bribe to suspend my campaign will be reported to New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg.”
Trump, a native New Yorker whose company remains headquartered in Manhattan, has privately acknowledged that a Mamdani victory could threaten his business interests.
Mamdani has promised to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund an “affordability agenda” that includes housing and public transit subsidies.
Last month, Trump threatened to cut federal funds to New York City if Mamdani won.
He has since canceled $18 billion in planned infrastructure funding, blaming the ongoing government shutdown.
The three candidates — Mamdani, Cuomo, and Sliwa — faced off in a final televised debate Wednesday night.
Mamdani called Cuomo “a desperate man, lashing out because he knows that the one thing he’s always cared about – power – is now slipping away from him.”
Cuomo countered by branding Mamdani “too divisive” and questioned his record in the state legislature.
“Zohran is a great actor,” Cuomo said. “He missed his calling. This man never even proposed a bill on housing or education.”
President Trump raged against New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in July, implying that, depending on the outcome of the November election, he may utilize federal powers to assert control over the city.
“As President of the United States, I’m not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York. 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 wrote on X.
Trump also threatened to examine Mamdani’s legal status and arrest him if he stood in the way of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the city.
Mamdani’s unexpected victory in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary in June has sparked significant concern among Republicans, who see the 33-year-old democratic socialist as a potent symbol of a shifting political landscape.
Mamdani’s rise from a relatively unknown state assemblyman to the presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor of America’s largest city has worried many, not just Republicans.
Mamdani is drawing fire for a campaign strategy plan that expressly advocates for transferring the city’s tax burden to “richer and whiter neighborhoods.”
A policy document titled “Stop the Squeeze on NYC Homeowners” from Mamdani’s mayoral campaign website contends that the city’s current property tax system disproportionately benefits wealthy, White homeowners, particularly in Manhattan and affluent Brooklyn, by allowing them to pay far less in taxes due to outdated assessment caps.
In contrast, Black, Latino, and immigrant homeowners in communities like Brownsville and Jamaica in Queens’ outer boroughs are overloaded and more likely to face foreclosure.