Trump has threatened actions against New York City if Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is elected. Legal experts have stated he cannot take full control but may obstruct city governance through federal lawsuits, investigations, executive orders, and funding cuts. The sovereignty of states limits federal intervention, yet the extent of legal challenges to Trump's actions remains uncertain. Experts indicate Trump's authority to enact significant changes is questionable and will likely face court challenges, although outcomes of such legal responses are unpredictable.
"He cannot take over the city, period," said Richard Briffault, a Columbia professor and the law school's authority on local and state government. But, Briffault said, "There are a lot of ways he can interfere with or harass the city ... There are ways in which he can make life difficult."
Absent insurrection or other extraordinary circumstances, our federal system and Constitution give broad sovereignty to states to govern their own affairs. Still, Trump can try a combination of controlling actions short of total control: federal lawsuits, targeted investigations, executive orders, pressing Congress to pass measures, agency regulations, National Guard deployments, grant clawbacks, ignoring contractual obligations, funding cuts..."
"The president does not have authority to do many of these things, and I expect them to stop him," Saiger said of the courts, but he's not 100% confident they will.
"It's unclear the extent to which courts would restrict Trump's authority to broaden his power over the city," said Aaron Saiger, a professor at Fordham law school and director of its Urban Law Center.
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