This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 76 days to the election.

  • At a fundraiser in the Hamptons on Sunday, Cuomo predicted that Trump could intervene in the race to stop Zohran Mamdani. He said the president could convince his base to support Cuomo over Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, according to audio obtained by Politico.

  • Cuomo was hosted at the home of Jewish media executive Jimmy Finkelstein in Southampton. Also co-hosting was Finkelstein’s brother, Andrew Stein, former New York City Council President and a longtime friend of Trump who has briefed the president on Cuomo’s chances of beating Mamdani, according to The New York Times.

  • “Trump himself, as well as top Republicans, will say the goal is to stop Mamdani,” Cuomo said at the fundraiser. “And you’ll be wasting your vote on Sliwa. So I feel good about that.”

  • Sliwa and Mayor Eric Adams, the other main contender running as an independent, both snapped back at Cuomo and have said they won’t drop out to help him.

  • Cuomo has publicly denied any coordination with Trump, instead saying he is the only candidate who can “deal with” him. But privately, he has told business leaders that he isn’t “personally” looking for a fight with the president.

  • Trump is unpopular in the overwhelmingly Democratic city of New York, and Mamdani has a commanding lead in recent polls, including an edge with Jewish voters. But in the 2024 presidential election, Trump picked up votes from an estimated 46% of Jewish New Yorkers, compared with 37% in 2020.