Mamdani thinks Trump threats are ‘inevitable’, but it won’t stop his plans to lower cost of living

Zohran Mamdani pledged to stand up to pressure from the Trump administration in his first press conference since winning the mayoral race on Tuesday.The 34-year-old announced his transition team and said he would tackle the “twin crises” of “an authoritarian administration and an affordability crisis”.Trump has referred to the mayor-elect as a communist – a label that Mamdani rejects, and hasimplied the administration would withhold federal funding from New York Cityif he won.The president hinted at a new political rivalry on Election Night, posting “AND SO IT BEGINS!” on his Truth Social account shortly after Mamdani won.

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump said that Mamdani had a “pretty open shot” in the race due to lacklustre opponents. The president said he is “torn” about the win and blasted Mamdani’s victory speech, characterising the mayor-elect as “very angry” toward him and saying he is “off to a bad start”.”He has to be a little bit respectful of Washington, because if he’s not, he doesn’t have a chance of succeeding,” Trump said. “And I want to make him succeed. I want to make the city succeed. I don’t want to make him succeed. I want to make the city succeed.”Trump has referred to Mamdani as “extreme,” and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has said his party will tie Democrats to Mamdani’s policies in next years’ midterm elections.Mamdani is a self-ascribed democratic socialist.

It has no clear definition but essentially means giving a voice to workers, not corporations. Mamdani has promised to tax millionaires to pay for expanded social programmes.”I hope it works out for New York,” Trump said of Mamdani on Wednesday. “We’ll help him a little bit, maybe.”In his election night speech, Mamdani addressed Trump directly, telling him to “turn the volume up” on his television to hear the enthusiasm of his supporters.He again spoke of the president in his remarks on Wednesday, saying he would not “mince my words” when it comes to Trump.

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