Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist who just won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, is pushing back after President Donald Trump threatened to have him arrested.

When asked about Mamdani’s pledge to block ICE from arresting undocumented immigrants in the city, Trump told reporters, “Well, then, we’ll have to arrest him. Look, we don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over them very carefully on behalf of the nation.” He continued, “A lot of people are saying, he’s here illegally. You know, we’re going to look at everything.”

Mamdani responded with a statement posted to X, writing, “The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let ICE terrorize our city.”

He described Trump’s words as an attack on democracy itself, saying they were “an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you.” Mamdani concluded, “We will not accept this intimidation.”

My statement on Donald Trump's threat to deport me and his praise for Eric Adams, who the President "helped out" of legal accountability. https://t.co/m7pNcT2DFS pic.twitter.com/UcYakMx4lI

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) July 1, 2025