US President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a dramatic warning that his administration may assert federal control over New York City and Washington, DC, if local leaderships “fail to align” with his administration’s agenda, escalating tensions with two Democrat-led cities. Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said the White House could “seize control” of New York City if Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist and the current front-runner in the city’s mayoral race, is elected in November. He also revealed discussions are underway to potentially intervene in the governance of Washington, DC, citing crime and “mismanagement.” ‘We have tremendous power at the White House’ “We're not going to have — if a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same,” Trump said, referring to Mamdani. “We have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to.” He continued, “We’re going to do something for New York. I can't tell you what yet, but we're going to make New York great again. Also, we’re going to make it great again with the country.” “New York City will run properly. I’m going to bring New York back. I love New York,” the president said, adding, “We’re going to straighten out New York. It’s going to — maybe we’re going to have to straighten it out from Washington.” Trump has repeatedly attacked Mamdani, who recently edged ahead of incumbent Eric Adams and former governor Andrew Cuomo to become the Democratic nominee for mayor. “He’s a disaster,” Trump said. “He got the Democrat nomination that tells you everything about where the Democrats are going.” The president accused Mamdani of wanting to “take over grocery stores” owned by billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, a vocal Trump ally. “He’s not very capable of running New York,” Trump added. Trump on Mamdani: You shouldn’t vote for him. This is a man who is not very capable in my opinion other than he's got a good line of bullshit. If a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same. But we have tremendous power at the white house to run places… pic.twitter.com/LyiUggqzsG — Acyn (@Acyn) July 8, 2025 “[Andrew] Cuomo does have capability. He’s running, but he got knocked out [of the Democratic primary]. You have Eric Adams, the current mayor, you have Cuomo, and you have Curtis Silwa? And Curtis runs every, every four years. He seems to be a fixture on the running scale,” Trump said before calling Mamdani, 33, “not very capable, in my opinion.” Trump eyes Washington takeover Trump also reignited his long-standing feud with Washington’s Democratic leadership, suggesting his administration is weighing a federal intervention in the capital. “We could run DC. We’re looking at DC,” he said. “We don’t want crime in DC. We want the city to run well.” “We’re thinking about doing it, to be honest with you. We want a capital that’s run flawlessly, and it wouldn’t be hard for us to do it.” “We’re testing it to see if it works,” he added, describing the federal government’s relationship with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser as “good.” Washington, DC, has had self-governance under the 1973 Home Rule Act, but Congress retains oversight of the city’s laws and budget. While Trump argued the capital is plagued by crime, recent data from the Metropolitan Police Department shows violent crime is down 25 per cent year-on-year and total crime has dropped by 8 per cent. It remains unclear what legal authority the Trump administration might invoke to impose federal control over either city. While DC is technically a federal district, New York is a sovereign city governed under state and local law. Trump did not specify whether he would seek congressional approval or issue an executive order to intervene in either jurisdiction.
