Trump Says "Will Have A Lot Of Fun" With "Nut Job" Mamdani If He Is Elected

US President Donald Trump said that the New York City Democratic nominee for mayor is a "pure, true communist" and a "total nut job" and added that he will "have a lot of fun with him" if he is elected. 

"I think he's terrible. He's a communist. The last thing we need is a communist," Trump told reporters at the White House before he left to tour the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention centre in Florida.

"I think he's bad news, and I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with him watching him because he has to go right through this building to get his money," Trump gestured towards the White House. "And don't worry, he's not going to run away with anything. Frankly, I've heard he's a total nut job."

Trump has also threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if Mamdani doesn't "do the right thing" after he is elected mayor. "If he gets in, I'm going to be president," Trump said on Fox News. "He's going to have to do the right thing or they're not getting any money."

"The people of New York are crazy," Trump said. "If they go this route, I think they're crazy. We will have a communist ‒ for the first time really, a pure, true communist. He wants to operate the grocery stores, the department stores. What about the people who are there? I think it's crazy."

Last week Mamdani won the Democratic primary in a major upset over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. He is a Ugandan-born Muslim who won the Democratic Party primary for the New York City mayor in June and identifies as a Democratic socialist.

"No, I am not," Mamdani rejected accusations from Trump that he's a communist during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press". "And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for", he added.

Speaking about billionaires, he said that they should not exist, "I don't think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality."

Republicans are calling for the deportation of Mamdani. 

In November, the 33-year-old will face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as independent, Republican and founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa, former federal prosecutor Jim Walden, and maybe Cuomo, who might run as independent.