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Zohran Mamdani's four-word message for Donald Trump after big NY election win
“I will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks,” Mamdani said.
New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani wasted no time taking aim at President Donald Trump on Tuesday night, formally setting the stage for what promises to be one of the most contentious relationships between City Hall and the White House in decades. (Live updates)
“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!” Mamdani declared to a roaring crowd of supporters shortly after being projected the winner. The line, delivered with his signature composure and confidence, was met with thunderous applause — a defining moment that signaled the 34-year-old Democrat’s readiness to confront the former New York mogul-turned-president head-on.
The exchange marks the opening salvo in what is expected to be a fierce political rivalry between the city’s first Indian-American, Muslim mayor and the Republican president whose celebrity and business empire are deeply intertwined with New York.
Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, made countering Trump’s policies — especially on immigration and urban inequality — a central theme of his campaign. “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani told supporters. “And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump — it’s how we stop the next one.”
His win came as part of a broader Democratic surge in Tuesday’s elections — the first major contests since Trump returned to power nine months ago. Democrats swept a trio of key races, boosting morale and injecting new energy into a party that has struggled to define itself in opposition to the president’s hardline agenda.
Throughout the campaign, Mamdani made no secret of his disdain for what he called “a culture of corruption” that has benefited the city’s wealthiest and most powerful figures. “I will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks,” Mamdani said earlier in the night, drawing a sharp contrast between his grassroots movement and the billionaire class.
Trump, meanwhile, has already signaled that he intends to make Mamdani a political target. In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday, Trump warned that electing a socialist mayor in New York would be disastrous. “If you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there,” he said, hinting that his administration could withhold billions in federal funding — a threat he has previously made against other Democratic leaders.
But Mamdani appeared unfazed. “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to go through all of us,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd packed into a Brooklyn event hall.
In his victory speech, Mamdani also thanked his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, for her support and invoked the words of Jawaharlal Nehru from his Tryst with Destiny speech: “A moment comes, but rarely in history,” he said, underscoring the significance of the night’s outcome.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani said, referring to his victory over former governor Andrew Cuomo. “Let tonight be the last time I utter his name, as we abandon a politics that answers to the few.”
The 34-year-old lawmaker acknowledged that his ambitious plans — including a citywide rent freeze, universal childcare, and expanded public housing — will face resistance, but he pledged to move forward with what he called “the most ambitious agenda to tackle the cost-of-living crisis this city has seen since the 1940s.”
“Tonight you have delivered a mandate for change — a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city that we can afford,” he said.
Mamdani will be sworn in as mayor on January 1, 2026, ushering in a new era for America’s largest city — and potentially, a new flashpoint in the country’s political divide.
