Polished for Publication: A More Direct and Factual Report
NEW YORK, NY - In a recent statement, President Donald Trump leveled sharp criticism at New York City political figures, including State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, and questioned the distribution of federal funds to the state.
Mr. Trump characterized Assemblyman Mamdani as a "communist," a claim stemming from Mamdani's publicly stated positions on immigration enforcement. In his nomination speech, Mamdani pledged to challenge the authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within New York City, stating he would not cooperate with the agency in the arrest of undocumented immigrants, whom the former President referred to as "criminal aliens."
When asked for his message to Mamdani, Mr. Trump responded, "Well, then we'll have to arrest him. Look, we don't need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I'm going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation."
The former President also raised concerns about federal funding disparities between New York and Florida. "We send him money, we send him all the things that he needs to run a government," Mr. Trump said of New York. "And by the way, they get about three times what you get... If you look at the per capita, Florida gets one-third of what New York gets in terms of the numbers."
He elaborated on this point, suggesting that calculations of federal aid to states can be misleading. "Sometimes people say Florida gets more because they count Social Security recipients, but that's not money to the state. Those are seniors that live here," he explained. "If they moved to North Carolina, you could count it there. So, it has no interaction with the state government. They get more in the city and state governments than we get."
Mr. Trump added, "We're going to be watching that very carefully."
The former President also commented on the legal challenges faced by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, suggesting a recent indictment was politically motivated. "Mayor Adams, who's a very good person. I helped him out a little bit... He made a statement to the effect that this is terrible. New York City can't have all these immigrants... and he was indicted the following day. And I said, 'That was a phony indictment.' And it was a phony indictment. That was a Biden indictment."
Drawing a parallel to his own experiences, Mr. Trump said, "I said, 'Don't feel bad. I got indicted five times every time you opened your mouth.'" He described the prosecutors as "vicious horrible people" who, in his view, lacked policy and skill but were adept at wielding legal challenges.
Assemblyman Mamdani's political platform aligns with the Democratic Socialists of America. He has been a vocal critic of federal immigration policies and a proponent of sanctuary city principles. The term "communist" is a significant escalation in political rhetoric.
Regarding federal funding, analyses of the balance of payments between states and the federal government often show New York as a "donor state," meaning it contributes more in federal taxes than it receives in federal spending. Florida's status can vary depending on the year and the methodology of the analysis, particularly concerning the inclusion of Social Security and Medicare payments to its large retiree population.
The federal investigation into Mayor Adams' 2021 campaign fundraising is ongoing. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has not commented on the motivations behind the timing of any indictments.
