'...AND SO IT BEGINS!' Trump reacts to Mamdani victory as he blames election defeats on government shutdown
Donald Trump threatens to deport New York mayor Zohran Mamdani
Donald Trump has issued a fiery four-word response to his “worst nightmare” Zohran Mamdani winning the New York City mayoral race.
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Taking to his TruthSocial platform in the wake of Mamdani’s victory, Trump wrote: “…AND SO IT BEGINS!”
Trump has been clear in his opposition to the young Democrat, branding him a communist and threatening to pull federal funding from his home city. He also threatened to arrest and deport him if he won.
The 34-year-old defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa to become the city's first Muslim mayor and the first of South Asian heritage.
He will also become the city's youngest mayor in more than a century when he takes office on January 1.
The Democrats also won governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, the only states electing new chief executives this year.
They also swept a trio of state Supreme Court contests in swing-state Pennsylvania and ballot measures from Colorado to Maine.
Elsewhere on TruthSocial, Trump blamed the goverment shutdown on the election losses.
'Mandate for change'
In his victory speech, Mamdani addressed Trump head-on.
"New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant," he said, adding: "If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."
Speaking to a rapturous crowd, Mamdani later added: "The sun may have set over our city this evening, but as Eugene Debs once said 'I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity'."
Read more: Trump's 'worst nightmare' Zohran Mamdani wins New York mayoral race
Addressing the entirety of the city, Mamdani said: "New York. Tonight, you have delivered a mandate for change.
"A mandate for a new kind of politics. A mandate for a city we can afford. And a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that."
Mamdani's grassroots campaign centred on affordability and issues like rent control, free bus fares and state-owned grocery shops.
His unlikely rise gives credence to Democrats who have urged the party to embrace more progressive, left-wing candidates instead of rallying behind centrists in hopes of winning back swing voters who have abandoned the party.
Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of Mamdani's most prominent backers, said New Yorkers would fight back.
"We're going to stand up to bullies and thugs in the White House," she told reporters.
There is also the question of how Mamdani will deal with Trump, who threatened to take over the city and to arrest and deport him if he won.
Mamdani was born in Uganda, where he spent his early childhood, but was raised in New York City and became a US citizen in 2018.