Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, fired back at President Donald Trump on Wednesday after the president appeared to threaten him with arrest and deportation over his opposition to federal immigration enforcement.
“The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp, and deported,” Mamdani said. “Not because I broke any law—but because I won’t let ICE terrorize our city.”
In a sharp statement, Mamdani accused Trump of using intimidation to silence political dissent. “This isn’t just an attack on me—it’s an attack on democracy and every immigrant voice in New York,” he said. “His words are meant to send a chilling message: if you speak up, they’ll come for you. But we won’t be silenced.”
Trump intensifies attacks, calls Mamdani a “Communist Lunatic”
Since Mamdani’s upset win in the Democratic primary, Trump has escalated his attacks. On Truth Social, he called the 33-year-old progressive a “Communist Lunatic” and warned, “I’m not going to let this guy destroy New York. I’ll save it—and make it hot and great again, just like I did with the USA!”
The president also insulted Mamdani as a “total nut job” and floated the idea of federal intervention in the city should Mamdani win the mayoral race.
While visiting a controversial new migrant detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida on Tuesday, Trump was asked about Mamdani’s pledge to resist ICE raids in New York. “Well, then we’ll have to arrest him,” he said. “We don’t need communists in America. But if we have one, I’ll be watching him very closely—for the good of the country.”
Trump also pushed a false conspiracy theory, suggesting Mamdani might be in the U.S. illegally. “A lot of people are saying he’s not even here legally. We’re going to look into it,” Trump claimed—despite the fact that Mamdani is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Who is Zohran Mamdani?
Mamdani, a 33-year-old progressive state legislator, is Muslim and of Indian and Ugandan descent. Born in Uganda to filmmaker Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani, he immigrated to the U.S. as a child and became a U.S. citizen years ago.
If elected, he would be the first Muslim and first Indian American mayor of New York City.
Mamdani’s platform includes bold ideas: free public buses, rent freezes on rent-stabilized apartments, higher taxes on wealthy neighborhoods, and city-run grocery stores to fight food insecurity.
Though Trump has repeatedly labeled him a “communist,” Mamdani denies the claim. “No, I’m not a communist,” he said in a recent interview. “I don’t believe billionaires should exist, but I want to work with everyone to build a fairer city.”
As November approaches, polling shows Mamdani leading both incumbent Democrat Eric Adams and Republican challenger Curtis Sliwa—setting the stage for a heated and historic election.
