Trump rebukes Mamdani’s new plan to ‘tax the rich’

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new “tax the rich” plan drew condemnation from President Trump, a Queens native, who slammed the policy that would affect his business.

Mr. Trump warned that the Big Apple mayor’s push to ramp up taxes on the wealthy is “DESTROYING” the nation’s largest city.

“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance! The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE,” he posted Thursday on Truth Social. “The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG. People are fleeing. They must change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven, THIS ‘STUFF’ JUST DOESN’T WORK.”

Mr. Trump’s attack came after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a “pied-a-terre” tax this week to add a surcharge on people who own second homes in the city but are not residents. It would apply to all second homes valued above $5 million — covering about 13,000 units — and is projected to generate $500 million annually.

Mr. Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, campaigned on a “tax the rich” platform to fund city services, a key pillar of his 2025 mayoral campaign. This newest policy proposal is intended to target the “ultrawealthy.”

“The measure targets ultrawealthy out-of-city residents and global elites who use New York City real estate as a vehicle for wealth storage rather than as homes,” Mr. Mamdani’s office said in a statement.

Mr. Trump’s penthouse at Trump Tower was his primary home until 2019, when he moved his official residence to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

He still owns the Trump Tower triplex, which is worth well over $5 million. With Mar-a-Lago as his declared primary residence and the White House as his current home, he would be subject to the tax proposal unless he reestablishes his NYC domicile or finds another way out.

The president is not the only Republican up in arms over the policy. Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive running against Ms. Hochul for governor, said it will only contribute to the city’s affordability issue.

“Kathy Hochul’s ’No Tax Hike’ promise has expired faster than the families fleeing New York’s affordability crisis. Whether you’re affluent or middle-class, Hochul and Mamdani are looking to hike your property taxes and take half your house through a new inheritance tax,” Mr. Blakeman said in a statement. “It’s a war on homeownership and the American Dream. Unlike Hochul, I’ll actually keep my word when I’m governor: I’ll cut your taxes, slash your utility bills in half, and protect the American Dream.”  

Aside from Mr. Trump, some of the ultrawealthy themselves are not on board with the proposal.

Two billionaires who spent large wads of money opposing Mr. Mamdani’s candidacy, hedge fund managers Daniel Loeb and Bill Ackman, accused the mayor of punishing employers whose employees contribute billions in taxes.

“Non-residents who spend millions of dollars on NYC apartments help drive NYC’s economy. Most of the profit in condominium development is in the penthouses,” Mr. Ackman said on social media Thursday.

Mr. Loeb accused the mayor of “stirring up class warfare and doxing one of the city’s biggest employers whose employees contribute billions in taxes.”

He added, “Our theater kid Mayor about to learn some cruel laws of economics: you can’t tax a city into prosperity and you don’t attract capital by demonizing philanthropists who can take their investment and employees elsewhere.”