President Donald Trump turned on New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday, venting about a tax plan aimed at very wealthy part-time residents of the city.
Mamdani had made the announcement Wednesday in a video posted to social media, saying, “When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich,” before adding, “Well, today, we’re taxing the rich.” The proposal centers on the city’s first tax on pieds-à-terre—dwellings owned by individuals who do not live in New York City most of the time. The plan is backed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D), who hopes the new tax will close a $5.4 billion fiscal gap through the next fiscal year.
Mamdani laid out the concept in pretty blunt terms. It would be an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million, owned by people who don’t live full-time in the city. He referenced a penthouse as an example, describing hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin’s $238 million purchase. In Mamdani’s telling, the tax is specifically designed for the “richest of the rich”—those who use New York real estate to store wealth while largely leaving units empty. He argued that the current setup is fundamentally unfair and hurts working New Yorkers, then shifted to what he says the fee can deliver.
The mayor said the tax will raise at least $500 million dollars directly for the city. He connected that revenue to practical local priorities, including free childcare, cleaner streets, and safer neighborhoods. The video played with a soundtrack that sounded much like the score from HBO’s Succession—though it was still Mamdani’s message that stuck, especially when he kept circling back to the idea that these apartments sit empty because the owners “don’t actually live” in the city. In the background, you could almost picture the hum of the city itself—car tires on wet pavement, that kind of sound—but the real tension was political, not cinematic.
Trump’s response was immediate and personal. Posting on Truth Social on Thursday, he slammed Mamdani, saying, “Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance! The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE.” He also condemned “The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies,” claiming “People are fleeing” and insisting “They must change their ways, AND FAST.” In his post, Trump added that “History has proven, THIS “STUFF” JUST DOESN’T WORK.” Then he ended with a tag of sorts: “Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT.”
To some observers, Trump’s anger reads like an about-face. In November, Mamdani—then the mayor-elect—visited the president in the Oval Office in what many deemed a “love fest” between the two. That earlier warmth seems to have evaporated quickly. When a reporter asked Mamdani if he still believes Trump is a fascist, Mamdani started to answer but was immediately interrupted.
“That’s ok, you can just say yes,” the president told him.
“Ok, alright,” Mamdani said.
“It’s easier than explaining it,” Trump said while laughing and slapping Mamdani’s arm.
Now, with the pied-à-terre tax live as a major policy pitch, the relationship looks… different. And even if the two men once traded laughs in the Oval Office, this week’s exchange suggests they may not be laughing again anytime soon—especially as the fight over who should pay in New York keeps turning into a national-style spectacle. Not sure where it lands politically yet, but it’s certainly not fading fast.
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