Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is warning New York City voters that President Trump will deploy National Guard troops to their streets if Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor this fall.
The warning from Mr. Cuomo came after Mr. Trump announced he was calling the National Guard into Washington, D.C. to help combat crime and homelessness — frustrating city officials.
“What you’re seeing in D.C. today is exactly what will happen if @ZohranKMamdani becomes Mayor,” Mr. Cuomo said on X. “Trump will flatten him like a pancake.”
Mr. Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to Mr. Mamdani by nearly 13 points, suggested that Mr. Trump shied away from sending the National Guard into New York in 2020, when he was sending them to other states, because he was the governor.
“There’s only one person in this race who can stand up to Trump: the one who already has, successfully and effectively,” Mr. Cuomo said. “NYC can’t afford a rookie who needs on-the-job training to fight for us.”
Mr. Trump said Monday that he hopes leaders from other cities, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, are keeping tabs on what is happening in Washington, DC, and will learn a lesson from it.
“I’m going to look at New York in a little while,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “And if we need to, we’re going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster, we have a mayor there who’s totally incompetent.”
Mr. Cuomo is running as an independent in the mayor’s race, which also includes Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who is also running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Mr. Mamdani said he would stand up for New York City residents earlier in the day when asked how he would react if Mr. Trump chose to send the National Guard into the city on his watch.
“I have said time and again, I will speak to the president and anyone as long as it’s to the benefit of New Yorkers, not at the expense of the same New Yorkers,” he said. “We know from the example of the first Trump administration, as well as now the second Trump administration, that Donald Trump does not respond well to cowardice, to collaboration.”
“He requires a response that showcases the ability to fight back against that same agenda, and that’s what I would do if and when he makes these kinds of threats,” Mr. Mamdani said.
