President Trump is deciding whether to get involved in the New York City mayor’s race and is in communication with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to a New York Times report.
According to the Times, Mr. Trump wants to stop Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and is trying to figure out which candidate has the best chance to beat him.
The Times reporting states that Mr. Trump spoke directly to Cuomo, who is running as an independent, but sources close to the Cuomo campaign tell CBS News New York political reporter Marcia Kramer the two have never discussed getting involved in the race. Those sources say that the president would like to see Mamdani as a candidate because he’s “political paydirt” or Mayor Eric Adams because “he owns him.”
Mr. Trump and Cuomo frequently feuded in the past, and Mr. Trump had the Justice Department investigate Cuomo.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Cuomo’s campaign said:
“The Governor and the President have not spoken in some time. As far as I know, they have not discussed the race. Regarding his reported interest, it seems clear that President Trump would either prefer Mr. Mamdani, whom he refers to as a ‘commie,’ because he believes Mamdani would serve as a political boon to Republicans nationwide in the midterms, symbolizing what he sees as the Democratic Party’s extremism. Alternatively, he may favor Eric Adams, who is a wholly owned subsidiary of the President. And there is already a Republican in the race, who is the nominee of President Trump’s party. There is only one candidate in this race who can effectively defend New York values and take on Donald Trump – the one official who already has: Andrew Cuomo. We’ll leave the palace intrigue to the gossip mill. In the meantime, Governor Cuomo is out crisscrossing the city, speaking directly to voters about uniting to build a New New York and deliver real change and progress for all.”
Mamdani put out the following statement in response to the report:
“Andrew Cuomo has spent his career governing for the powerful and prioritizing his own self-interests over those of the people he was sworn to serve. This is not just a shady backroom deal by a cynical politician, it is disqualifying. It is a betrayal.
“Donald Trump is sending masked agents to rip our neighbors off the street, gutting the social services so many New Yorkers rely on, and threatening to deport me for having the audacity to stand up to him and his billionaire friends. The job of New York City Mayor is not to be jester for a wannabe king, it is to protect the people of this city.”
CBS News New York reached out to Adams’ campaign and has not yet heard back.
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