New York mayoral candidate defends Trump’s attack and rent freeze plan

New York City Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was urged Tuesday to promise to be President Trump’s “worst nightmare” and his plan to freeze rent, which has been criticized by many landlords in the city.

“I’m saying time and time again that, based on their politics, I won’t take a reflective approach to refusing to talk to anyone,” Mandani told Fox News National Correspondent Brian Llenas at a press conference Tuesday that when asked about his previous claims that would be Trump’s “worst nightmare”, if that threat would threaten the federal government’s power and the amount of presidents raised.

“I want to work with anyone, as long as it’s for New Yorkers,” Mandani continued. “That’s the difference between me and Andrew Cuomo. One of many is that he calls Donald Trump not on how we serve New York City, but on how we protect the city from these cuts, but how do we work together to subvert the will of the main Democratic voters?”

llenas then asked how to make sure voters don’t turn back and could work with the White House as he is currently on a news tour dedicated to attacking Trump in five boroughs across the city.

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“This trip reflects the fact that Donald Trump is attacking the city,” Mandani replied. “It is attacking its people. It is attacking the structure of what we call home. In a fiscal sense, the meaning of hungry food stealing food, throwing patients away their insurance means, what that means, and what that means, which means that makes the New York City government attack New York City.

Mamdani added that if Trump “want to answer the phone” to deal with issues like cheap groceries he is willing to work with”, it can’t be a “partnership at the expense of the people of the city”.

Mamdani faces strong criticism, including Kenny Burgos, CEO of New York Apartment Association Visit Fox News DigitalAbout his plan to “freeze” rent for some New Yorkers.

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Democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani won the New York City Mayor Democratic primary Zohran Mamdani spoke at a recognition event in New York City on July 15, 2025. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Mamdani was asked what he would say to those who think the rent was frozen while denying landlords and builders the necessary funds to build more housing or maintain their property, which Burgos responded to comments on Fox News Digital.

“We talk about rent freezes, these are rent freezes that have already happened in New York City,” Mandani replied. “Under the last administration, they happened three times. The problems we have in housing supply are long-term problems in New York City, some of which are related to politics and policy. Some of them are related to the process, too.”

“For us, being leaders of the city is crucial to us because what we are seeing is a vacancy rate so low that it makes the city’s ability to continue to grow and ensures that we can welcome more people here.”

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The candidate for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke at a press conference while running outside a subway station in New York City, USA on April 1, 2025. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Mamdani continued saying that he “heard from the landlord” was a major issue with insurance.

“Insurance has doubled in recent years and I have seen many examples of landlords coming together to create their own insurance entities,” Mamdani said. “I can tolerate the name, but Milford Street Captive manages to reduce the cost of insurance, which the city can build with more massive investments. ”

“I also heard from these landlords that the problem they had was not that, according to Eric Adams’ instructions, tenants could not afford the 3 or 4 or 5% increase adopted by the Rental Code Commission. “It is precisely some tenants who simply cannot afford the rent,” Mandani said.

Mamdani continues to call for more rent vouchers, saying “so many” New Yorkers living in rent-stable housing can benefit from Cityfheps.

“This can actually increase the amount of money these landlords bring home, but New York City isn’t enough to pay,” Mandani said.

“Those previous rent freezes were temporary, aren’t they?” Mamdani was under pressure from Llenas.

“I’ve talked about the four-year rent freeze,” Mamdani answered before proceeding to the next question.