Donald Trump said he could withhold federal funds from NYC if ‘communist’ Zohran Mamdani wins Tuesday’s mayoral election.
The president’s declaration came during an appearance on CBS’ 60 Minutes after host Norah O’Donnell said Mamdani had been described as a left-wing version of Trump.
‘Well, I think I’m a much better looking person than him, right?’ Trump said about Mamdani.
O’Donnell pointed out that Mamdani, like Trump, has been described as ‘charismatic’ and breaking the old rules.
The president was asked what would happen to his native NYC if Mamdani defeats Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa.
‘It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,’ Trump said.’ Because if you have a Communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.’
Trump admitted that he doesn’t like Cuomo but that he would prefer the disgraced former governor win the election.
‘If it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a Communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you,’ Trump said.
Donald Trump warned it would be a ‘waste’ to give New York City federal money if ‘communist’ Zohran Mamdani wins Tuesday’s mayoral election
The president was first asked what he thought when interviewer Norah O’Donnell said Mamdani (pictured) had been described as a left-wing version of Trump. Trump responded: ‘Well, I think I’m a much better looking person than him, right?’
The president compared Mamdani to predecessor Bill de Blasio, who Trump termed ‘the worst mayor in history.’
Trump shut down Cuomo’s promise that if the leftist Mamdani won, Trump would become the real mayor of the city as ‘so crazy.’
The appearance on the show was his first since settling a lawsuit with CBS News over the newsmagazine’s interview with Kamala Harris.
Most recent polls show Mamdani with a double-digit lead on Cuomo, with a 15-point lead in a survey by JL Partners for the Daily Mail last week.
The president touched on several subjects and took a look back at his first nine months in office with the CBS newsmagazine.
He remained bullish on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s work at getting rid of illegal immigrants, even when challenged on some of their tactics.
When asked if some of the ICE raids have ‘gone too far,’ he responded: ‘No. I think they haven’t gone far enough because we’ve been held back by the– by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama.’
The president turned much more serious when asked what would happen to his hometown if Mamdani defeats Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday. ‘It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,’ Trump said
Trump remained bullish on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s work at getting rid of illegal immigrants, even when challenged on some of their tactics
Trump believes the agents must be able to do their jobs to get rid of those in our country illegally.
‘Many of them are murderers. Many of them are people that were thrown outta their countries because they were, you know, criminals. Many of them are people from jails and prisons. Many of them are people from frankly, mental institutions.’
The president said that anyone he sees as without a criminal record may be reassessed following deportation.
‘We have to start off with a policy, and the policy has to be you came into the country illegally, you’re gonna go out. However, you’ve also seen, you’re gonna go out. We’re gonna work with you, and you’re gonna come back into our country legally,’ he said.
Trump also continued to hammer the Democrats on the government shutdown which will begin its 33rd day on Monday.
‘I mean, the Republicans are voting almost unanimously to end it, and the Democrats keep voting against ending it. You know, they’ve never had this.’
He said the Democrats refusal to bargain is an example of ‘Trump derangement syndrome.’
‘They are losing so much that they don’t know what to do. They’ve lost their way. They’ve become crazed lunatics.’
When asked if some of the ICE raids have ‘gone too far,’ he responded: ‘No. I think they haven’t gone far enough because we’ve been held back by the– by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama’
Trump believes the agents must be able to do their jobs to get rid of those in our country illegally
When asked if there was something he could do as president, Trump said: ‘All I can do is give the facts.’
‘Here’s what I can’t do. I can’t give them $1.5trillion so that they can give welfare to people that came into our country illegally. So that prisoners, and that people from mental institutions, and people that are drug dealers get vast amounts of money for healthcare. That I can’t do.’
He continued to promise that if the Democrats reopened the government, he would work with them to improve healthcare, in particular, Obamacare.
Trump, however, expressed his dismay with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer who is trying to extort him.
‘Schumer is a basket case. He’s gonna be defeated in the next election by a vast number of people. And he has nothing to lose. He’s become – I just left Japan. He’s become a kamikaze pilot.’
When O’Donnell suggested that this meant it was unlikely a deal was coming, Trump still expressed hope that the Democrats would give in.
‘It’s gonna get solved, yeah. Oh, it’s gonna get solved. We’ll get it solved. Eventually, they’re gonna have to vote.’
Trump also reiterated his desire to ‘nuke’ the filibuster but said ‘it’s too bad’ that Senate Majority Leader John Thune wasn’t interested.
Trump expressed his dismay with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (pictured) who is trying to extort him
The president has an uneasy history with television’s most popular newsmagazine. But he has signaled friendlier relations with CBS News after the takeover of its parent company this summer by new Paramount CEO David Ellison, the son of wealthy supporter Larry Ellison.
O’Donnell, the former ‘CBS Evening News’ anchor, is not one of the show’s regular correspondents.
Trump walked out of a ’60 Minutes’ interview with correspondent Lesley Stahl shortly before the 2020 election, complaining of bias, and his team released an unedited transcript of the conversation.
Despite invitations, he did not agree to a ’60 Minutes’ interview during the 2024 election campaign. But he complained that the newsmagazine’s interview with Harris, his Democratic opponent, was edited deceptively in order to make her look good.
CBS News strongly denied any wrongdoing, but Trump filed a lawsuit against the company.
Paramount decided to pay Trump $16 million to settle the case this summer, shortly before the Federal Communications Commission approved Paramount’s merger with Ellison’s Skydance Media.
In the wake of the Trump lawsuit, ’60 Minutes’ executive producer Bill Owens resigned this past spring, saying that it was becoming clear that he could no longer run the program independently.
Since taking over at Paramount, Ellison has sent signals of a closer relationship with Trump.
He hired Kenneth Weinstein, the former head of a conservative think tank and a donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign, to serve in a role investigating complaints that the network had shown bias in its reporting.
Paramount also purchased the Free Press website in October and named its founder, Bari Weiss, as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News.
Weiss reportedly had a role in booking the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and aide Steve Witkoff for a ’60 Minutes’ interview two weeks ago, talking about the peace deal in Gaza.
Flying back from the Middle East on Oct. 12, Trump told reporters that ‘Larry Ellison is great, and his son David is great. They’re friends of mine. They’re big supporters of mine, and they’ll do the right thing.’
