Even before the election, tensions were high between left-leaning Zohran Mamdani and President Trump, who has deep, personal ties to New York City.

Speaking with Fox News in June earlier this year, Trump argued that a win for Mamdani was “inconceivable” because he recognized him to be “a pure communist”. Ahead of the vote, Trump took to Truth Social with a pointed warning, threatening to cut federal funding to the city if Mamdani, whom he once again branded a “communist”, won.

“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, but Mamdani is not!” Trump wrote.