US President Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani with a brief post on Truth Social. On his official account, Trump wrote, "And so it begins!", hours after Mamdani, the 34-year-old Democrat, directly addressed the President during his victory speech.

Speaking to supporters, Mamdani had said, "Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!" The exchange signals the start of a potentially high-stakes political clash between the Republican President and the Democratic socialist mayor.

Mamdani has vowed to make opposing Trump's immigration policies and "authoritarian tendencies" a key focus of his administration, while Trump has cautioned that federal funding for New York City could be at risk under Mamdani's leadership won three key races on Tuesday, the first major elections since Trump's return to power nine months ago, elevating a new generation of leaders and energizing the party ahead of next year's congressional elections."If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him," Mamdani told supporters.

"And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump, it's how we stop the next one," he added has previously used the powers of the presidency against political rivals and had warned he might withhold billions in federal funding from New York City if Mamdani, a democratic socialist, was elected.

This follows prior funding cuts by the Trump administration aimed at Democratic congressional leaders from the city acknowledged that implementing what he called "the most ambitious agenda to tackle the cost-of-living crisis this city has seen" since the 1940s will be a challenge. His proposals include a rental freeze, universal childcare, and other measures impacting the private sector the challenges, Mamdani pledged to press forward, emphasising his determination to persevere in the fight. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed)

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