Trump's New York state of mind
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
President Trump is playing an unusually active role in New York politics — getting involved in local campaigns, commandeering municipal projects and putting a thumb on the scale for both Republicans and Democrats.
Why it matters: Trump is no longer a New York resident, but the city where he built his empire still has a hold on him.
- And the administration isn't afraid to get heavy-handed with the president's former hometown.
Trump's Justice Department dropped corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, over the objections of staunchly conservative career prosecutors.
- Trump repeatedly cast himself and Adams as kindred spirits, largely because they had both been investigated.
His administration is trying hard to kill New York City's new congestion pricing policy, which charges drivers a toll to enter part of Manhattan and uses the revenue to fund public transit.
- The Transportation Department gave New York an ultimatum to scrap congestion pricing last month, and sued when the state didn't comply. Trump has personally attacked the program multiple times — and in some cases has used the opportunity to air other grievances about New York transit.
- "They should get rid of the bike lanes and the sidewalks in the middle of the street," Trump told The New York Post in an interview about congestion pricing. "They're so bad. They're dangerous. These [electric] bikes go at 20 miles an hour. They're whacking people."
The New York Post clearly still has a special place in Trump's media diet.
- He frequently shares its stories on Truth Social, and said last week that the paper's editor in chief should take over The Wall Street Journal.
Trump's Transportation Department recently took over responsibility for a $7 billion renovation of New York's Penn Station — a move Gov. Kathy Hochul praised.
- ""President Trump has made it clear: the days of reckless spending and blank checks are over," Transportation Secretaty Sean Duffy said in a statement announcing that the feds would take over the project from the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
Trump is now trying to clear the field so that Rep. Elise Stefanik can run for New York governor without a competitive Republican primary. As part of that effort, he recently took to Truth Social to endorse the county executive in Nassau County for another term — a much smaller race than presidents typically wade into.
- Trump also made an endorsement in a special election for Westchester County Executive, saying on Truth Social that Democrats would turn the wealthy New York suburbs into a safe haven for "criminal aliens."
Flashback: One of Trump's last rallies before the 2024 election was at Madison Square Garden — a noteworthy detour in the final stretch of a campaign, when candidates usually focus their energy on swing states.
- "When I left, New York was the place you wanted to be, and now people just don't speak well of it. But we're going to bring it back, and we're going to bring it back strong," he said.
The bottom line: "This is the city where I was born and raised, and this is the town that taught me that Americans can do anything when they want to," Trump said at the Madison Square Garden rally.
