Zohran Mamdani challenges Trump in victory speech, says 'NYC will be city of immigrants'

In an apparent challenge to US President Donald Trump, who has cracked down on illegal immigrants post his return to the White House, New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has said that the city, which will now be “led by an immigrant”, will be powered by immigrants.

Mamdani scripts history

“To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” Mamdani said as he made history by becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to lead America’s largest city.

Also Read: Zohran Mamdani elected New York’s first Muslim mayor, quotes Nehru in victory speech

“We refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game any longer. They can play by the same rules as the rest of us. Together, we will usher in a generation of change, and if we embrace this brave new course rather than flee from it, we can confront oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves,” he said.

“After all, if any city can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani remarked.

Crackdown on landlords, bosses

“And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that enabled him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you, turn the volume up,” he said, drawing thunderous applause from his supporters.

“We will hold bad landlords to account because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable exploiting their tenants. We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxes and misuse tax breaks," Mamdani said.

Also Read: Zohran Mamdani, Mira Nair’s son, leads progressive push in New York mayor race

“We will stand with trade unions and strengthen labour protections, because we know, just as Donald Trump does, that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to exploit them become very small indeed," he added.

City led by an immigrant

“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me, President Trump, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” Mamdani declared.

Mamdani said his victory had toppled a “political dynasty”, quoting former Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to say that the city had “stepped out from the old into the new”.

“Friends, we have toppled a political dynasty. I wish Andrew Cuomo all the best in private life, but let tonight be the last time I utter his name as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and serves only the few. New York, tonight you have delivered,” Mamdani said in his victory speech.

New York steps into new era

Mamdani triumphed in the closely-watched New York City mayoral election, defeating political heavyweight and former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

Also Read: Zohran Mamdani hits back after Trump's arrest threat amid Islamophobic backlash

“We won because New Yorkers dared to believe that the impossible could be made possible and because we insisted that politics would no longer be something done to us, but something we do,” he said.

“Standing before you, I think of the words of Jawaharlal Nehru: a moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and the soul of a long-suppressed nation finds utterance. Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new.”

(With agency inputs)