- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that Washington will not bail out New York City if mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani enacts his progressive agenda of higher taxes on the wealthiest, free childcare, and city-run grocery stores. Comparing the situation to Gerald Ford’s 1970s standoff with NYC, Bessent argued Mamdani’s policies would drive out wealth and businesses. Trump echoed the threat, branding Mamdani a “communist” but conceding his victory looks increasingly likely.
The Treasury Secretary has warned New Yorkers they’re on their own if they elect Zohran Mamdani for mayor, an outcome looking increasingly likely despite the fury of the White House.
Mamdani, a left-leaning Democrat who has been branded a “communist” by the Oval Office, won the Democratic NYC mayoral primary with policies such as free childcare for all and city-owned grocery stores to keep prices down. He has also pledged to build 200,000 affordable housing units and increase taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and biggest corporations.
Bessent, who founded a global hedge fund in New York, has vowed that if the Big Apple finds itself in a budgetary bind because of these policies, then the government will refuse to help.
“I guarantee you—and there are not a lot of things in life that are sure—that New York City will be coming to the federal government for a bailout if the Mamdani plans are implemented,” Bessent told Fox Business. Asked if that bailout would be provided, he referred to a legendary New York Daily News headline from the 1970s: “It will be the same thing that Gerald Ford said: Drop dead.”
While Bessent’s statement isn’t quite true (President Ford never actually said the words “Drop dead”), it does echo a situation in which the White House and America’s capital of capitalism had a falling out. Ford said he would refuse to assist NYC if it went bankrupt, though his tough love act was short-lived as he did end up signing off on loans which were repaid with interest.
Bessent—whether aware of Ford’s U-turn or not—seemed determined to drive his warning home: “You can’t enact policies like this and expect to be bailed out.”
He added: “Everyone who stayed now wants to leave. All the high-earners, all the businesses … If we go back over the past five years we have seen the greatest transfer of wealth in U.S. History from Manhattan to Palm Beach County. Mamdani could be the greatest thing for Florida real estate.”
According to an August study from nonpartisan think tank the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), New York’s share of the nation’s millionaires shrank from 12.7% to 8.7%—taking $13 billion in state and city personal income tax revenue with them. Conversely, the number of millionaires in Florida rose 2.8 percentage points.
‘Good money after bad’
Bessent isn’t the only one leveraging the might of the Treasury against New Yorkers—Trump has also made similar threats.
After Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, endorsed Mamdani, Trump posted to his social media network, Truth Social, that it was a “rather shocking development, and a very bad one for New York City.” He added: “How can such a thing happen? Washington will be watching this situation very closely. No reason to be sending good money after bad!”
That said, the Oval Office is clearly preparing for the reality of having Mamdani leading one of America’s most powerful metropolises. “It would look like he’s going to win,” President Trump told Fox and Friends last week.
“I call him my little communist,” Trump added. “He’s my little communist mayor. But you know, he has to come to Washington for money, a lot of money.”
Mamdani identifies his political leaning as democratic socialist. While definitions of democratic socialism vary, it revolves around the idea of a democracy in which the people and workers control the economy and government, and that no group dominates any other.
