New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said Thursday that Andrew Cuomo’s alleged coordination with President Donald Trump is “disqualifying,” following a New York Times report that the president has spoken with Cuomo about the race.
During an appearance on WNYC, Mamdani accused Trump of attempting to rig the outcome.
“The fact is that the president has three candidates in this race: one that he’s directly been in touch with, another that he bailed out of legal trouble, and now functionally controls, and the final one literally being a member of the same Republican Party,” he said, referring to Cuomo, current Mayor Eric Adams, and Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa.
The comments come as Trump reportedly weighs how to block Mamdani, a democratic socialist whose campaign has gained traction among young and progressive voters. According to the Times, Trump’s pollsters told him that Cuomo—New York’s former governor, who resigned in 2021 following numerous sexual harassment allegations—could still be competitive as an independent.
One scenario reportedly under consideration is convincing a lower-polling candidate to drop out to consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote. The Times said that Trump hasn’t made a final decision, but conversations are continuing behind the scenes.
On Wednesday evening, Mamdani said he “would be remiss” not to address the report of a possible Trump-Cuomo meeting.
“It is Trump billionaires who have been opposing our campaign’s vision for a city that New Yorkers can afford,” Mamdani told reporters. “It is Donald Trump himself who has been directly conspiring with candidates who have decided to give up the people that they are supposed to protect in lieu of securing power through the assistance of that same administration in Washington, D.C.”
The Cuomo campaign and Trump both denied the report.
“As far as I know, they have not discussed the race,” said Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo’s campaign, though he acknowledged that they have spoken in the past.
A spokesperson for the Times said the paper stands by its reporting.
Trump’s potential meddling wouldn’t just inject chaos into a volatile race, but it would also reinforce a pattern. He has repeatedly tried to sway races where his allies are struggling or where he sees an opportunity to sabotage rising opposition.
Mamdani’s campaign—rooted in rent justice and public investment—has drawn sharp criticism from conservative donors and right-wing media, and he’s made clear that he sees backlash as proof he’s gaining ground.
When asked Thursday about his relationship with Trump, Adams offered a more cautious tone.
“When I speak with the president, it’s about resources for the city of New York,” he said at an unrelated press conference.
Adams also noted that his administration has sued the federal government more than any other mayor in the country, most recently over the loss of $80 million in FEMA funds.
Still, the idea that Trump could throw his weight behind Cuomo or pressure others to drop out is already drawing backlash. Mamdani cast the president’s involvement as just another attempt to rig the rules, accusing all three rivals—Adams, Cuomo, and Sliwa—of aligning themselves with a man openly hostile to the kind of city his campaign is trying to build.
“It is time for us to make clear that what this city deserves is a mayor who, when he sees Donald Trump attacking the people of this city, will stand up and fight back against that vision, who will not get on the phone with the architect of that vision,” Mamdani told voters Thursday.
Whether Trump follows through remains to be seen, but his involvement alone shows how much the old guard fears a Mamdani victory.