Trump Threatens to Arrest Zohran Mamdani Over Sanctuary City Campaign Promises

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to arrest New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani if he carried through with campaign promises to enact sanctuary city policies.

The president, during a trip to a south Florida immigration detention facility he’s taken to calling “Alligator Alcatraz,” called the 33-year-old U.S. citizen a “communist” and even suggested that he may be in the United States illegally.

“Well then, we’ll have to arrest him,” Trump said in response to a question about Mamdani’s promises to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in New York City. “Look, we don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m gonna be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation.”

“We send him money. We send him all the things that he needs to run a government,” Trump continued.

The question was likely a reference to a line in Mamdani’s victory speech after securing the Democratic nomination, in which he said a mayor should “use their power to reject Donald Trump’s fascism to stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors.”

One of Mamdani’s policy positions also was to make New York “the strongest sanctuary city in the country.”

In a statement on X, Mamdani wrote that Trump threatened him “not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city.”

“His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you,” the statement continues. “We will not accept this intimidation.”

Mamdani beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the first round of ranked-choice voting in the primary in June. A democratic socialist, Mamdani ran a campaign focused tightly on the cost of living and the affordability crisis.

His positions included opening a city-run grocery store in every borough, raising the corporate tax rate, making city buses free and freezing rents. Mamdani has also accused the Israeli government of apartheid and genocide in Gaza, criticisms that received much attention during his campaign.

But after Mamdani’s victory, some Republicans have attacked his background — his Muslim faith and identity as an immigrant who was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018. Some have even called for his deportation.

After Mamdani’s victory, Rep. Andy Ogles wrote in a post on X that “Zohran ‘little muhammad’ Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York. He needs to be DEPORTED. Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings.”

Attached to the post was a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi. One of the claims in his letter is that Mamdani concealed support for “terrorism” in his citizenship application.

On Tuesday, Trump elevated the claim that Mamdani is living in the U.S. illegally, despite his citizenship.

“A lot of people are saying he’s here illegally. He’s, you know, we’re going to look at everything,” Trump said. “Ideally, he’s going to turn out to be much less than a communist. But right now, he’s a communist.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked about the claim earlier this week, said, “I have not seen those claims, but surely if they are true, it’s something that should be investigated.”

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Nuha Dolby is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.