By Adeola Adeosun

Copyright newsweek

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani pledged to fight for every dollar of federal funding during a CNN interview Monday evening, responding to President Donald Trump’s threat to withhold $7.4 billion in annual federal support if the progressive candidate wins November’s election.

Speaking with CNN host Erin Burnett on OutFront, Mamdani rejected any acceptance of losing federal funds and cited California’s successful legal strategy for fighting Trump’s administration.

Newsweek reached out the White House via email on Monday for comment.

Why It Matters

Trump’s threat represents direct presidential intervention in New York City’s mayoral race, potentially setting precedent for federal-local government relations during his second term. The $7.4 billion in annual federal funding covers essential city services including education, infrastructure and public safety.

Trump has weighed in on New York City and state politics multiple times over the years. In 2020, he and then-Governor Andrew Cuomo, now Mamdani’s main opponent, were at odds over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More recently, the president and other Republicans have been vocal in their opposition to Mamdani and his policies.

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani holds a campaign event with the health care workers union on September 24, outside St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

What To Know

Mamdani, a New York state assemblyman and democratic socialist, continues leading the mayoral race, and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams dropped out on Sunday. Mamdani’s campaign centers on progressive policies including rent freezes, free public transit and increased minimum wages—proposals that carried him to victory over Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary by a clear margin.

Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday that Mamdani “won’t be getting any of it” and questioned “what’s the point of voting for him?” The president called Mamdani’s ideology something that “has failed, always, for thousands of years.”

During Monday evening’s CNN interview, when host Burnett asked Mamdani if he was OK with New York City potentially losing the $7.4 billion in federal funding, the candidate responded firmly: “No, we will fight for every single dollar that the city currently receives from the federal government.” He emphasized that “the best way to respond to Donald Trump’s threats is responding with strength,” pointing to California’s attorney general who estimated winning more than $30,000 for every dollar spent on lawsuits against federal funding threats. “We will take that same approach,” Mamdani said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in August that they would be protecting more than $168 billion in federal funding coming into the state through numerous court efforts. The state filed 37 lawsuits, leading or co-leading 23 of them, and separately filed more than 40 amicus briefs in support of other litigation against the Trump administration in just six months. In the 19 cases where California has sought and a district court has ruled on early relief, the state succeeded in 17 of them, with 13 orders blocking Trump’s illegal actions currently in effect, according to a news release from Newsom’s office.

Speaking to reporters Monday morning, Mamdani argued that even with Adams collaborating with the Trump administration, federal policies still dominated New York City. He cited federal detention of New Yorkers as young as 6 years old, $50 million withheld from schools, and $80 million taken from a bank account, adding that what “this city deserves is someone who will fight for it.”

In April, a federal judge ruled the Trump administration cannot deny federal funds to sanctuary cities, as the U.S. government cannot force local jurisdictions to participate in federal immigration enforcement—a position the U.S. Supreme Court has backed. Last week, New York state won its lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security for withholding disaster relief funding over sanctuary policies.

What People Are Saying

Mamdani, speaking to reporters Monday morning: “I think that Donald Trump is going through the stages of grief. He began with denial, where he said there was no way we could win this race, and he would use every tool at his disposal to ensure that that was the case. We saw that with phone calls that he had with Andrew Cuomo and briefings that he had with pollsters. Now he’s coming to terms with the fact that we’re going to win this race.”

Trump, on Truth Social Monday: “He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me…