Miami, Nov 6: US President Donald Trump criticized New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday, calling his victory speech “very angry” and cautioning that the newly elected mayor would be “off to a bad start” if he failed to show respect to Washington.
“Yeah, I thought it was a very angry speech, certainly angry toward me, and I think he should be very nice to me,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News in Miami. “You know, I’m the one that sort of has to approve a lot of things coming to him. So he’s off to a bad start.”
Mamdani, an immigrant rights activist and member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, delivered a fiery victory address on election night, framing his win as a repudiation of Trump-era politics. “After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani declared to loud applause.
He said New York would remain “a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
“This is not only how we stop Trump; it’s how we stop the next one,” Mamdani added. “So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”
In his speech, Mamdani vowed to “hold bad landlords to account,” saying figures like Trump had grown “too comfortable taking advantage of tenants.” He promised to end what he described as a “culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks.”
Mamdani also pledged to strengthen labor rights and stand with unions. “We know, just as Donald Trump does, that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to extort them become very small indeed,” he said.
Addressing Trump directly, Mamdani declared, “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Trump, when asked about the mayor-elect’s remarks, warned that Mamdani’s statements could backfire. “It’s a very dangerous statement for him to make, actually,” the president said. “He has to be a little bit respectful of Washington, because if he’s not, he doesn’t have a chance of succeeding.”
The president added that while he did not necessarily want Mamdani to succeed personally, he wanted New York City to do well. “I want to make the city succeed, and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
Asked if he planned to reach out to Mamdani, Trump replied that the new mayor “should reach out to us really.” He added, “I think he should reach out. I’m here. We’ll see what happens. But I would think that it would be more appropriate for him to reach out to us.”
Despite his criticism, Trump said he still had affection for the city. “I’m so torn, because I would like to see the new mayor do well, because I love New York. I really love New York,” he said.
Trump, who has previously described Mamdani as a “communist,” repeated that claim, saying, “Communism or the concept of communism has not worked for thousands of years. I tend to doubt it’s going to work this time.”
