President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he may seize control of New York City if democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral race.
"If a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same," Trump told the New York Post during a Cabinet meeting. "But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places where we have to."
"New York City will run properly," he said. "I'm going to bring New York back. I love New York."
"We're going to straighten out New York," the president added. "It's going to — maybe we're going to have to straighten it out from Washington."
Trump told the outlet that his administration is "going to do something for New York," but did not elaborate further.
"I can't tell you what yet, but we're going to make New York great again," he said. "Also, we're going to make it great again with the country."
Before dining with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Monday night, Trump told reporters that Mamdani "will behave" if voters send him to City Hall in November.
"It all comes through the White House," Trump said. "He needs the money through the White House. He needs a lot. He's going to behave. He'll behave. He better behave. Otherwise, he's going to have big problems."
The president added that Mamdani has been promoting "a philosophy that this country is not ready for and it never will be."
"This a communist, he's not a socialist, he's a communist," Trump said. "And he said some really bad things about Jewish people, and he said some really bad things about a lot of people."
During Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Trump also floated the idea of taking over the management of Washington, D.C.
"We're thinking about doing it, to be honest with you," he said. "We want a capital that's run flawlessly."
White House chief of staff Suzie Wiles has been in regular contact with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, according to the president.
"We've had a good relationship with the mayor, and we're testing it to see if it works," he said.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.