President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on political opponents Tuesday, July 1, threatening jail time for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a press conference in Florida.
Speaking to reporters after touring a new ICE detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” Trump railed against Mamdani, a progressive Democrat who had just clinched the party’s nomination for NYC mayor. Trump called Mamdani a “communist,” questioned his citizenship, and warned that if Mamdani interferes with ICE arrests as mayor, “we’ll have to arrest him.”
“A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally,” Trump claimed, despite Mamdani having been born in Uganda and naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018. Mamdani, 33, made headlines for defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in a surprise primary win. His campaign has centered on curbing aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in the city.
“We don’t need a communist in this country,” Trump said. “But if we have one, I’ll be watching very carefully.”
Mamdani fired back, saying, “This isn’t just an attack on me — it’s a threat to every New Yorker who dares to speak out. We won’t be intimidated.”
Trump also reignited attacks on Alejandro Mayorkas, President Joe Biden’s former DHS Secretary, who was impeached by House Republicans in 2024 over claims he mishandled the southern border. Though acquitted by the Senate, Trump told reporters Tuesday that he’s considering prosecuting Mayorkas.
“If he wasn’t pardoned, I could see looking at that,” Trump said, turning to current DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and asking her to “take a look at it.”
“What he did is beyond incompetent,” Trump added. “I’ll take a look at that one.”
The president’s remarks come amid a series of political outbursts. Earlier that day, Trump reignited his feud with Elon Musk, following the tech mogul’s criticism of his new budget plan. Posting on Truth Social, Trump accused Musk of being overly reliant on government subsidies and warned that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) may reevaluate his funding.
“Elon may get more subsidies than any human being in history,” Trump wrote. “Without them, he’d have to shut it all down — no rockets, no satellites, no electric cars.”
Mocking Musk during the press conference, Trump joked, “DOGE might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible?” Asked whether he’d consider deporting Musk, who became a U.S. citizen in 2002, Trump replied, “We’ll have to take a look.”
