{"id":516755,"date":"2026-01-15T01:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/516755\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T01:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T01:08:11","slug":"zohran-mamdani-doubles-down-on-nyc-sanctuary-city-vows-to-fight-trump-funding-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/516755\/","title":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani doubles down on NYC ‘sanctuary city’, vows to fight Trump funding threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on the\u00a0Big Apple\u2019s \u201csanctuary city\u201d status<\/a>\u00a0after his new chum President Trump threatened to cut federal funds \u2014 putting their bizarre bromance to the test.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue to make the case for New York City, and I think that\u2019s been at the heart of every conversation that I\u2019ve had with the president, whether it\u2019s a local office or through a handful of texts and calls to the exchange,\u201d Mamdani said during an unrelated event Wednesday at a Brooklyn child care center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

the Cypress Hills Childcare Center on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed at a Brooklyn press conference on Jan. 14, 2026 that President Trump hasn\u2019t responded after he contacted him over threats to pull federal funding from sanctuary cities. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always about making the case for the city,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cAnd when it comes to the threat to restrict federal funding to New York City, I want to be very clear that our values in our laws are not bargaining chips.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said Tuesday that he would\u00a0freeze federal funding to sanctuary<\/a>\u00a0cities and states \u2014 including New York \u2014 on Feb. 1, claiming they \u201cdo everything possible to protect criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The standoff could test the unusual, apparently budding friendship between the pro-immigrant Democratic socialist mayor and the right-wing Republican president.<\/p>\n

Mamdani, who\u00a0as The Post reported this week<\/a>\u00a0remains chummy with Trump and chats with him over text about twice a week, said he reached out to the president about the latest funding threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reached out to President Trump to express my sharp opposition to this decision and to make my values clear, and I will always continue to do so, whether to the president or to all New Yorkers, to be honest about where I actually stand,\u201d he said when asked about the threat at an unrelated news conference Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have yet to hear back from the president, and this is the position I hold as the mayor of New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani and the president are said to have started exchanging phone missives\u00a0 following an unexpectedly\u00a0cordial White House meeting<\/a>\u00a0in November.<\/p>\n

Most observers expected that the two would exchange verbal barbs in what was their first face-to-face meeting \u2014 but were shocked when the pair emerged from a closed-door chat and appeared side-by-side in the Oval Office, sharing handshakes and kind words.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s different than your typical guy,\u201d Trump said at the time, adding that Mamdani \u201chas a chance to really do something great for New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said this week he would cut federal funding to sanctuary cities like New York starting on Feb. 1. Shawn Thew \/ Pool via CNP \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

As recently as Tuesday, sources told The Post that Mamdani and Trump remain \u201cfriendly,\u201d and check in with each other at least twice a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t make practical, political sense for them to scream at each other \u2014 in public or private,\u201d one insider said. \u201cOf course, they can\u2019t appear too cozy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMamdani would be smart to kiss Trump\u2019s ass,\u201d they added. \u201cEspecially when the federal government can withhold billions from the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that potential reality now looming, the tone could change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democrat-led New York City, Trump\u2019s birthplace, has been a thorn in the president\u2019s side, with constant criticism of his immigration crackdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ICE agents detaining a migrant at US immigration court in Manhattan on Oct. 27, 2025. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Cities and states with sanctuary policies typically refuse or limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement \u2014 which derails Trump\u2019s ongoing campaign to arrest and deport thousands of people living in the US without legal authorization.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, a data analyst employed by the City Council\u00a0was detained by federal immigration agents<\/a>\u00a0during an appointment with federal immigration officials on Long Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The incident involving the Venezuela native, Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, 53, sparked a firestorm from activists and local politicians, including Mamdani, with City Council Speaker Julie Menin disputing the feds\u2019 claims that the staffer was an \u201cillegal alien\u201d with a criminal record.<\/p>\n

It underscores the lingering tension between City Hall and the White House on the issue of immigration \u2014 which could heat up even more if Trump follows through on his vow to cut funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Trump sparked an unusual friendship during a White House visit in November. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mamdani initially fired back online on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur values and our laws cannot be bargaining chips,\u201d the\u00a0lefty mayor wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cI will always defend the city and every single person who calls the city home, even in the face of threats from the federal administration to withhold funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor then doubled down at the press briefing later that night and told reporters he\u2019d reached out to Trump to \u201cexpress my sharp opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Trump appears to have left Hizzoner on read \u2014 as Mamdani said he\u2019d yet to hear back from the White House on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t yet connected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on the\u00a0Big Apple\u2019s \u201csanctuary city\u201d status\u00a0after his new chum President Trump threatened to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":516756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,69,26865,409,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,59792,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,5301],"class_list":{"0":"post-516755","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-federal-funding","11":"tag-immigration","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-sanctuary-cities","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa","28":"tag-zohran-mamdani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115896444851487390","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}