New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani offers President Donald Trump a new political foil with whom to draw stark contrasts on policy. But during remarks at an economic conference on Wednesday, Trump mentioned Mamdani by name just once – and instead largely focused on old political foes.
One day after Democrats swept major races in New York, California, Virginia, and New Jersey, Trump obliquely referenced Mamdani, whom he described as a “communist,” lamenting the loss of “a little bit of sovereignty last night in New York.”
He named Mamdani for the first time 56 minutes into his remarks, referencing the mayor-elect’s support for transgender rights. He later said he wanted New York “to be successful” and would “help him.”
Trump suggested the country is at an inflection point in a battle between “communism and common sense.” But his wide-ranging remarks did not bolster that argument as he spent much of the speech taking aim at former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, along with former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Trump referred to Biden as “crooked Joe” and “sleepy Joe” as he touted his second term economic wins and attacked his predecessor’s mental acuity. He referred to Obama by his full name, calling him a “mean person” and a “divider” while questioning the status of his presidential library construction.
De Blasio, Trump added, is “the worst mayor in history.” Lightfoot, he said, “gets her hair done very expensively.”
Trump largely eschewed the opportunity to respond to Mamdani, who directly addressed the president during an intense victory speech, telling Trump to “turn the volume up.”
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said Tuesday.
