Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on the Big Apple’s “sanctuary city” status after his new chum President Trump threatened to cut federal funds — putting their bizarre bromance to the test.
“I will continue to make the case for New York City, and I think that’s been at the heart of every conversation that I’ve had with the president, whether it’s a local office or through a handful of texts and calls to the exchange,” Mamdani said during an unrelated event Wednesday at a Brooklyn child care center.
“It’s always about making the case for the city,” he told reporters. “And when it comes to the threat to restrict federal funding to New York City, I want to be very clear that our values in our laws are not bargaining chips.”
Trump said Tuesday that he would freeze federal funding to sanctuary cities and states — including New York — on Feb. 1, claiming they “do everything possible to protect criminals.”
“It breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come,” he said. “So, we’re not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities.”
The standoff could test the unusual, apparently budding friendship between the pro-immigrant Democratic socialist mayor and the right-wing Republican president.
Mamdani, who as The Post reported this week remains chummy with Trump and chats with him over text about twice a week, said he reached out to the president about the latest funding threat.
“I reached out to President Trump to express my sharp opposition to this decision and to make my values clear, and I will always continue to do so, whether to the president or to all New Yorkers, to be honest about where I actually stand,” he said when asked about the threat at an unrelated news conference Tuesday night.
“I have yet to hear back from the president, and this is the position I hold as the mayor of New York.”
Mamdani and the president are said to have started exchanging phone missives following an unexpectedly cordial White House meeting in November.
Most observers expected that the two would exchange verbal barbs in what was their first face-to-face meeting — but were shocked when the pair emerged from a closed-door chat and appeared side-by-side in the Oval Office, sharing handshakes and kind words.
“He’s different than your typical guy,” Trump said at the time, adding that Mamdani “has a chance to really do something great for New York.”
As recently as Tuesday, sources told The Post that Mamdani and Trump remain “friendly,” and check in with each other at least twice a week.
“It wouldn’t make practical, political sense for them to scream at each other — in public or private,” one insider said. “Of course, they can’t appear too cozy.
“Mamdani would be smart to kiss Trump’s ass,” they added. “Especially when the federal government can withhold billions from the city.”
With that potential reality now looming, the tone could change.
Democrat-led New York City, Trump’s birthplace, has been a thorn in the president’s side, with constant criticism of his immigration crackdown.
Cities and states with sanctuary policies typically refuse or limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement — which derails Trump’s ongoing campaign to arrest and deport thousands of people living in the US without legal authorization.
Earlier this week, a data analyst employed by the City Council was detained by federal immigration agents during an appointment with federal immigration officials on Long Island.
The incident involving the Venezuela native, Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, 53, sparked a firestorm from activists and local politicians, including Mamdani, with City Council Speaker Julie Menin disputing the feds’ claims that the staffer was an “illegal alien” with a criminal record.
It underscores the lingering tension between City Hall and the White House on the issue of immigration — which could heat up even more if Trump follows through on his vow to cut funding.
Mamdani initially fired back online on Tuesday.
“Our values and our laws cannot be bargaining chips,” the lefty mayor wrote on X. “I will always defend the city and every single person who calls the city home, even in the face of threats from the federal administration to withhold funds.”
The mayor then doubled down at the press briefing later that night and told reporters he’d reached out to Trump to “express my sharp opposition.”
But Trump appears to have left Hizzoner on read — as Mamdani said he’d yet to hear back from the White House on Wednesday.
“We haven’t yet connected,” he said.
