The Trump administration is retreating from threats it made to defund New York City should a socialist candidate win its mayoral election. 

In the days leading up to the November election, President Donald Trump repeatedly vowed he would cut federal funding if then-mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani secured the victory. 

However, in the wake of a surprisingly cordial meeting Trump held with Mamdani over the weekend, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Sunday suggested Trump would “wait and see” what direction Mamdani chooses to take the city before making the decision.

Since Mamdani won the election, the Trump administration has been “reassured” by some of his decisions, including his move to retain the city’s police commissioner despite the democratic socialist’s past criticisms of law enforcement, Hassett added, saying that “we are sure hopeful” the president and mayor can work together. 

Hassett’s comments came during a CNN interview, when host Jake Tapper said: “Right before the election, President Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from New York City if Mamdani were elected. Was that just all bluster? He didn’t mean it?”

Hassett replied:  “Well, it feels like he doesn’t mean it now, and I guess it, we’ll have to wait and see what Mamdani does. I think that we are really reassured that he has kept the police commissioner.”

Trump similarly praised Mamdani for retaining police commissioner Jessica Tisch last Friday, saying she is a friend of his daughter, Ivanka. 

“They say she’s really good, really competent, and he just retained her. So that’s a good sign,” the president told reporters as Mamdani stood alongside him in the Oval Office.

Referencing previous suggestions he’d defund the city if “communist” Mamdani was elected, Trump said he had made the threat in the event “we didn’t get along,” saying he didn’t “want good money going after bad.” 

“We don’t want that to happen. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I did say that, you know, subject to what policies are being said, we had a meeting today that actually surprised me. He wants to see no crime. He wants to see housing being built. He wants to see rents coming down. All things that I agree with,” the president said. “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help, because I want New York City to be great.”

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Hassett said Friday that he hadn’t seen “strong” proposals from Mamdani about how to implement those ideas, saying the Trump administration is ”at times disagreeing” with the mayor about how to expand affordability.

“But I think that the objective of making life better for everybody is something that a lot of people share on the Democratic and Republican side,” he said. “In previous administrations in New York, we’ve seen Law and Order really goes south…. I’ve lived in New York quite a while….and New York always feels like the safety is on the edge. And so the fact that Mamdani, as the mayor, has agreed to keep the police commissioner is this kind of sign that maybe he’ll be able to work together with President Trump.” 

, 2025-11-23 18:36:00, , Washington Examiner, %%https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon.png?w=32, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, Emily Hallas