New York City’s political landscape was rocked this week as Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist and current frontrunner in the mayoral race, found himself at the epicenter of a growing clash between local and federal power. The tension reached a new peak after the Trump Justice Department indicted New York State Attorney General Letitia James on charges of bank fraud and making false statements related to a property purchase in Norfolk, Virginia. The move immediately drew fire from Mamdani, who accused both President Donald Trump and his mayoral rival Andrew Cuomo of undermining the city and its institutions.
On October 10, 2025, Mamdani appeared on The New Yorker Interview with David Remnick, where he addressed the mounting hostility from Washington. With the general election looming, Mamdani has become a lightning rod for criticism, not just from Trump and his allies, but also from within his own party. He rose to prominence after a surprise victory over Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary—a result that stunned political observers and reshaped the city’s electoral dynamics. According to The New Yorker, Mamdani’s platform is built on promises of rent stabilization and city-owned grocery stores, policies aimed at making New York more affordable for ordinary residents.
But it’s not just Mamdani’s ambitious agenda that has drawn attention. The Trump administration recently froze $18 billion in infrastructure projects earmarked for New York, citing concerns that the funds could be used to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The freeze, widely interpreted as a political maneuver, signals what many expect to be a pattern of federal resistance should Mamdani capture City Hall in November. Trump, for his part, has repeatedly threatened to withhold cooperation with the city if Mamdani is elected, and has labeled the candidate a communist—a charge echoed by other critics and used to rally support for Cuomo, now running as an independent.
When asked by Remnick how he would handle what was described as an impending “assault” from Washington, Mamdani was unequivocal. “I think that will be an inevitability. We have to treat it as such, as opposed to something that’s simply just possible,” he said on the podcast. He went on to argue that the Trump administration views vibrant urban life as a threat to its political agenda, and that New York could serve as a model for an alternative style of governance. “Too often, we treat Donald Trump’s pronouncements as if they are law simply by virtue of the fact that they come from his mouth when, in fact, what we are often discussing are the most obvious overreaches and illegalities that we’ve seen in modern politics,” Mamdani added. “What Donald Trump most often respects is strength. It is not cowardice. It’s not collaboration like we saw from [Mayor Eric Adams], or coordination like we’re seeing from Cuomo. It’s someone who’s willing to stand up and fight back.”
For Mamdani, the stakes are larger than any personal rivalry. “We cannot allow this to become a contest between two individuals. Donald Trump suspending these kind of infrastructure grants, Donald Trump speaking about deploying the National Guard—it’s not about Donald Trump versus myself. It’s about Donald Trump versus the city,” he said. The assemblyman stressed the need for a united front, bringing together New Yorkers from across the political spectrum to defend the city from what he sees as federal overreach.
The following day, Mamdani took his fight to the streets—specifically, to a press conference in lower Manhattan, where he blasted Andrew Cuomo for what he called an attempt to appease President Trump in the wake of the indictment against Letitia James. According to the New York Daily News, Mamdani criticized Cuomo for failing to mention either Trump or James by name in his public statement responding to the charges, suggesting that Cuomo was trying to avoid alienating wealthy donors who also support Trump. “He cannot speak his name lest he has permission already to do so,” Mamdani said, making clear his belief that Cuomo’s path to City Hall was “paved by the very billionaires who put Donald Trump back in the White House.”
The indictment against James, announced late Thursday by the Trump Justice Department, alleges that the Attorney General misrepresented her intended use for a Virginia property in 2020, enabling her to secure a mortgage under false pretenses. The discrepancy, prosecutors claim, may have resulted in less than $19,000 in ill-gotten gains over the life of the loan. James, who has long been a vocal critic of Trump and previously led civil fraud charges against his real estate empire, denied the allegations and called the case “a desperate weaponization of our justice system.”
Mamdani, flanked by several women of color in city and state leadership, did not mince words at the press conference. “This is blatant miscarriage of justice,” he declared, according to the New York Daily News. “This is a shameless act of political retribution.” Speaker Adrienne Adams, who attended the event, praised James for her resilience and accused Cuomo of failing to stand up to Trump. “She saw through you in the beginning, and she saw through you in the end,” Adams said of Cuomo. “And at the end of both spectrums, Donald Trump is still pulling the strings in your vocal cords.”
Cuomo, for his part, pushed back against the criticism, insisting that politicization of the justice system is unacceptable no matter the party in power. “The weaponization and politicization of the justice system is wrong no matter which side you are on—period,” Cuomo said in a statement. He referenced his own experience as a target of federal investigations, noting that a watchdog report found Trump officials may have attempted to influence the 2020 presidential election through media leaks targeting Democratic governors. “It is wrong when Trump’s DOJ does it or when a Democrat does it, and it must be universally condemned. I know firsthand as the White House weaponized the DOJ against me,” Cuomo added.
Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, declined to take a firm stance on the indictment of James, telling reporters at a separate press conference that he wanted “the process to play out.” Adams, who himself faced a federal indictment earlier this year—later dropped by the Trump Justice Department in a controversial arrangement—used the opportunity to criticize the media’s coverage of his case. “Many of you who covered me during that time were salivating at the thought that Eric will go to jail for 33 years, so don’t start asking me about what do I think about what’s going on now,” Adams said, maintaining his innocence.
The prosecution against James is being led by Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s former lawyer and now interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan, who had no prior prosecutorial experience before her appointment, also recently brought charges against another Trump foe, former FBI Director James Comey.
As the city barrels toward a pivotal mayoral election, the battle lines are being drawn not just between political opponents, but between the city itself and a federal government many here see as hostile. For Mamdani and his supporters, the fight is about more than policy—it’s about defending New York’s autonomy and values in the face of unprecedented federal intervention.
In the weeks ahead, all eyes will remain on the city’s political leaders as they navigate a landscape defined by high-stakes indictments, shifting alliances, and the ever-present shadow of Washington’s influence.
