Andrew M. Cuomo could still have a path to defeat Mr. Mamdani if two other candidates dropped out, but he bemoaned the quality of Mr. Mamdani’s opponents. “I’m not looking at the polls too carefully, but it would look like he’s going to win,” Mr. Trump, a Republican, said of Mr. Mamdani.
Mr. Trump said publicly at the time that he would like to see a one-on-one race between Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Cuomo, a more moderate Democrat he has known for decades.
“I think he’s resigned to the fact that Mamdani is going to win,” said Sid Rosenberg, a conservative talk radio personality who hosted Mr. Trump on his show earlier this week.
“Trump should just stay out of it,” said Tony Nunziato, the Republican Party chairman in Queens, where Mr. Trump grew up.
Though that plan appears to have fallen by the wayside, Mr. Trump had seemed open to the idea.
President Trump seems more and more resigned to the possibility that Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, will win the mayoral election in New York City after weeks of planning by his advisors, supporters, and donors.
During his Friday morning appearance on “Fox and Friends” in New York, the president stated that former Gov. Although Andrew M. Cuomo lamented the caliber of Mr. Mamdani’s opponents, he still had a chance to defeat him if two other candidates withdrew. .
Regarding Mr. Mamdani, Republican Mr. Trump remarked, “I’m not paying too much attention to the polls, but it would look like he’s going to win.”. That’s a rebellion, too. Additionally, it’s a revolt against unworthy candidates. “.”.
“My little communist,” the president referred to Mr. Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, and implied that he was already considering the power he could wield over him as mayor.
Mr. Trump claimed that he had to travel to Washington in order to obtain money.
Additionally, he attacked Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and Mr. Dot Cuomo. Known for saving cats, he claimed that Mr. Dot Sliwa was “not exactly prime time” and would attempt to pack Gracie Mansion with “thousands of cats.”. “.”.
Along with others who have claimed that the former governor’s policies cost lives, he accused Mr. Dot Cuomo of botching the COVID response in state nursing homes during the pandemic. Strongly disputing that claim, Mr. Dot Cuomo maintains that he was acting in accordance with federal directives.
“What he did with the nursing homes was so terrible,” Mr. Trump declared.
Just a week or so had passed since Mr. Trump’s close associates were still talking about the possibility of at least one of the candidates, Mayor Eric Adams, leaving the race by accepting a job offer when the president adopted his gloomy tone. According to The New York Times, an ambassadorship to Saudi Arabia was the primary choice that was discussed.
Mr. Trump, a more moderate Democrat he has known for decades, stated in public at the time that he would prefer to see Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Cuomo compete one against the other. Despite this, Mr. Cuomo’s campaign this year has not impressed those in Mr. Trump’s inner circle.
The mayor, who is running on a third-party line like Mr. Dot Cuomo, has less chance of winning a job now that the private talks have been made public, according to people familiar with the situation.
The president does not currently see a realistic scenario where the field will be cleared, according to the same people, who also cautioned that the president could still change course. Mr. Dot Sliwa, who finished third in a recent New York Times/Siena poll with 15% of the vote, has been especially determined to remain in the race.
This week’s poll was one of several that showed Mr. Mamdani leading a four-way race, but they also hinted that if Mr. Adams and Mr. Sliwa abstained, the race might become closer.
Conservative talk radio host Sid Rosenberg, who hosted Mr. Trump on his show earlier this week, stated, “I think he’s resigned to the fact that Mamdani is going to win.”. “Trump, he is not a dumb guy. “.”.
Mr. The president, according to Rosenberg, still had “some hope” that Mr. Dot Cuomo could improve his standing in the polls, but “he has given up on Eric Adams.”. “.”.
The Justice Department dropped the corruption accusations against the mayor after he courted the president earlier this year. Despite harming Mr. Adams’s political chances in his hometown, where Democrats outnumber Republicans six to one and Mr. Trump is still unpopular, the action preserved his freedom.
Mr. Trump, who established his reputation and company in New York City, appeared to have the political clout and personal motivation to sway the election for a while.
The president had to choose between opposing groups of allies and advisors.
National Republicans who thought Mr. Mamdani’s left-leaning politics were a gift for their attempt to win the midterm elections next year were among those who opposed Mr. Trump’s interference. They were joined by New York local party leaders who are devoted to Mr. Sliwa and despise Mr. Cuomo.
In Queens, where Mr. Trump was raised, Republican Party chairman Tony Nunziato stated, “Trump should just stay out of it.”. In essence, he will curse whoever he supports because Trump lost and they don’t like him. “”.
Some of the president’s closest friends in New York, on the other hand, responded to Mr. Mamdani’s victory over Mr. Cuomo in the June Democratic primary with a certain amount of fear, if not panic. For a while, Mr. Trump’s personal inclinations were more in line with those friends than with his political supporters.
Mr. Mamdani’s overtly leftist platform, which includes raising taxes on the wealthy, a history of harshly criticizing the police, and long-standing criticism of Israel, has rattled many in the business and real estate community.
Some have pledged to defeat him by flooding super PACs with millions of dollars.
The world’s financial capital could be turned over to a socialist this November if we don’t mobilize, according to an email sent this week by a number of affluent businessmen, including Jeff Blau, CEO of Related Companies. We can’t and won’t allow that to occur. “.”.
Steve Witkoff, a close advisor to Mr. Trump and a billionaire real estate investor in New York, was notably in charge of the negotiations to try to craft a Trump administration position for Mr. Adams.
Mr. Trump had seemed receptive to the idea, but it seems that plan has been abandoned.
When questioned by a reporter last week about whether he wants Mr. Adams to halt his reelection campaign, Mr. Trump responded, “I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one-on-one.”. “And that seems like a race to me. “”.
A connection between the president and Mr. Cuomo stems from their shared Queens heritage and overlapping family histories. But they also fought during the Covid pandemic and Mr. Cuomo’s time in the Clinton administration, when he was governor and Mr. Trump was president.
In the spring, their relationship became even more tense when Republicans accused Mr. Trump of lying to Congress about his decisions as governor during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting the Justice Department to launch an investigation into Mr. Cuomo. (Mr… Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing. ).
