Politics Mamdani puts together team - Trump taunts
After the mayoral election in New York, the political cards seem to have been reshuffled in the USA.
06.11.2025, 03:17
SDA
US President Donald Trump and the Republicans are looking for an explanation for the recent election defeats in two other US states - and are taking jibes at the New York election winner Zohran Mamdani. Meanwhile, the left-wing Democrat is already working on building his future city government.
Mamdani's success in the metropolis of millions is not the only one to hit the Republican Party: Democratic candidates also won gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia. Trump thinks he knows the reasons.
He described the election night as "not good" for his party. In front of party colleagues, Trump said he was not sure whether he had been "good for anybody". The successes give the Democrats a tailwind ahead of the mid-term elections to the US Congress in a year's time.
Search for explanations
With Mamdani, Trump will soon have a charismatic opponent in New York, who had already announced on election night that he would resolutely counter provocations by the president. Trump initially avoided mentioning the election or Mamdani by name.
At an event in Miami, Florida, the following day, he then spoke disparagingly about "Mandami, or whatever the hell his name is" and called him a "communist", as he had often done before. At the same time, Trump conceded that the Republicans had "lost a little bit of authority in New York". "We will take care of it", he added.
The previous day, Trump had cited pollsters as suggesting that the so-called shutdown could have been a negative factor for the Republicans on election day. The shutdown refers to the ongoing partial government shutdown in the USA. Because no budget has been passed in parliament, no new money is flowing. Many government employees are not being paid.
Johnson: "Defeat for the American people"
Trump also claimed, with reference to pollsters, that the biggest factor in the Republicans' poor performance was that he himself was not on the ballot. Exactly one year ago, Trump won the presidential election against Democrat Kamala Harris.
According to the US media, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, described Mamdani's victory as "the greatest victory for socialism in the history of the country" and "the greatest defeat for the American people". At the same time, he warned against overestimating the results as a whole: "What happened last night is that blue (historically majority Democratic) states and blue cities voted blue. That was predictable. No one should read too much into yesterday's election results."
Mamdani introduces transition team
The morning after the election, Mamdani announced an initial team to support him in his transition to office. It is about "building a city hall that stands for excellence, integrity and the courage to tackle old problems with new solutions", said the 34-year-old. They want to "show the US what government can do when we put people, not billionaires, first".
The five members of the team - all women - include the former head of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lina Khan. The 36-year-old was appointed by then President Joe Biden in 2021; her term of office ended in September 2024. Trump's administration did not nominate her for a second term.
Who will govern with Mamdani in future?
As mayor, Mamdani will manage the city's 116 billion dollar budget and hundreds of thousands of civil servants from January. During the election campaign, he made it his main objective to make life in the largest city in the USA more affordable again. To this end, he promised a rent cap, free childcare and better bus connections - financed by higher taxes for the wealthy and companies. It is eagerly awaited who he will choose for key posts to implement his agenda.
Mamdani mobilized an unusually large base during the election campaign and was able to count on over 100,000 volunteers. He now wants to involve them in the transition phase. In a video message on X, he spoke of a "transparent" transition because New York deserves a trustworthy government. At the same time, he asked for donations to finance personnel and infrastructure. "Let's get to work."
Parts of New York's diverse Jewish population reacted with great concern to Mamdani's election in view of his drastic criticism of Israel. Mamdani had already taken an offensive approach to the Jewish population during the election campaign and in his victory speech and emphasized once again on the day after his election that as mayor he would "always stand steadfastly with our Jewish neighbors" in the fight against anti-Semitism.
