Zohran Mamdani Confronts Donald Trump in First Speech

New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani began his post-election address by taking aim at President Donald Trump, setting the tone for what is expected to be a defining political rivalry.

«Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up,» the Democrat told an enthusiastic crowd on Tuesday night, shortly after securing victory.

The election marked a significant win for Democrats, who claimed three major contests in the first electoral tests since Trump returned to the White House nine months ago. The results have been seen as energising the party ahead of next year’s congressional races.

Tensions Expected Over Immigration and City Funding

Mamdani made opposition to the 79-year-old Republican leader a central message of his campaign, particularly around immigration policy. The coming years will show how effectively the 34-year-old mayor can stand against a president known for using the national spotlight and combative political tactics.

«If any place can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that produced him,» Mamdani said. «And if there is a way to unsettle a despot, it is by dismantling the conditions that allowed him to rise. This is how we stop Trump and how we stop whoever comes after.»

The president has already suggested that New York could face cuts to federal funding if Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist, carries out his planned agenda. Trump recently described the prospect of his administration sending money to «a communist running New York» as wasteful.

Mamdani has acknowledged the scale of the challenge. His platform includes a freeze on rents, universal childcare and broader interventions to address living costs, which critics argue would strain the city’s budget and private sector.

Even so, Mamdani vowed to resist pressure from Washington.

«To reach any one of us, you will have to go through all of us,» he declared.