Trump Warns New York Mayor-Elect Mamdani to ‘Be Nice,’ Calls Victory Speech ‘Angry and Dangerous’

United States President Donald Trump has warned New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, to “be nice” to him following Mamdani’s fiery election night remarks that appeared to take aim at the president.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump accused Mamdani, a progressive Democrat, of delivering “a very angry speech” after his historic win, saying the newly elected mayor was “off to a bad start” in his relationship with the White House.

“I thought it was a very angry speech. Certainly angry toward me, and I think he should be nice to me,” Trump said. “I’m sort of the one that has to approve a lot of things coming to him, so he’s off to a bad start.”

Trump was reacting to Mamdani’s defiant election night statement in which the mayor-elect declared: “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

The president described the comment as “a very dangerous statement,” suggesting it reflected hostility rather than cooperation.

Mamdani, a New York state assemblyman before his election, made history this week as the city’s first South Asian and first Muslim mayor, after defeating his Republican challenger in a landslide. His campaign centered on affordable housing, policing reform, and standing up to what he called “the politics of intimidation.”

Political observers say the exchange underscores the likely tension between Mamdani’s progressive city government and Trump’s administration, especially on immigration, policing, and federal funding for urban programs.

Neither Mamdani’s office nor his transition team immediately responded to requests for comment.

The verbal clash comes amid heightened political polarization across the United States as Trump begins his second term, with several major cities led by Democratic mayors pledging to resist his policies.