Zohran Mamdani, a leading candidate in the New York City mayoral race, directly addressed Donald Trump in a fiery interview with Fox News.

In a conversation on Fox News Channel’s The Story With Martha MacCallum, the progressive candidate discussed the upcoming election. Mamdani is currently the front-runner against former governor Andrew Cuomo, who faced disgrace, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

During the interview, Mamdani turned to the camera, suggesting Trump might be tuning in, and expressed his desire to communicate directly with the former president.

“I won’t be a mayor like Eric Adams, calling you for advice on staying out of jail, nor will I be a governor like Andrew Cuomo, seeking your guidance on winning this election,” Mamdani declared.

Eric Adams, previously under federal indictment until Trump intervened, withdrew from the mayoral race last month amid backlash over his connections to the Trump administration.

Mamdani continued by delivering a direct challenge to Trump. 

‘I will, however, be a mayor who is ready to speak at any time to lower the cost of living,’ Mamdani, a state assemblyman, said. ‘That is the way that I will lead the city and the partnership.’

He said that he would work with anyone, including Trump, to make his goals of an affordable Big Apple come true. 

Socialist New York City mayoral favorite Zohran Mamdani looked directly into the camera and addressed Donald Trump during a combative interview with Fox News

Mamdani answered a question by turning to the camera and admitting that Trump ‘might be watching right now’ and he wanted to ‘speak directly’ to the president

‘I want to build not only with Washington, D.C., but anyone across this country,’ he said. 

‘It’s important because too often the focus on the needs of working-class Americans are put to the side as we talk more and more about the very times of corrupt politicians like Andrew Cuomo that delivered us into this kind of crisis.’

Elsewhere in the interview, Mamdani repeated his promise to apologize to police officers over repeating woke, defund the police rhetoric and reiterated that he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Mamdani and Trump have often tested one another in the press since the Democratic Socialist won the Democrat nomination. 

Last month, Mamdani challenged President Donald Trump to a debate, while calling out the White House for attempting to get involved in the race.   

He made the comments after a New York Times report which said the Trump administration asked Adams and Sliwa if they would consider abandoning their campaigns to take federal jobs. 

The idea would be to set up a head-to-head race between Mamdani and former Cuomo, who lost out on the Democratic primary to Mamdani. 

Trump had suggested that Mamdani could win the mayoral election if the field of candidates isn’t cut down, before branding him a communist. 

Mamdani said he would differ from former Governor Andrew Cuomo (pictured), who the assemblyman said calls Trump for advice 

He also claimed he wouldn’t ask Trump for a job, as he accused current Mayor Eric Adams (pictured) of doing 

He told reporters before a White House dinner: ‘I don’t think you can win unless you have one on one, because somehow he’s gotten a little bit of a lead.

‘I don’t think you can win unless you have one on one, because somehow he’s gotten a little bit of a lead. I think that’s a race that could be won.’

When asked by reporters if he would encourage other candidates in the race to drop out, he said no before adding: ‘I don’t like to see a communist become mayor, I will tell you that.’

Even if either of the men were to take Trump up on any potential offer, it would be difficult to have their names removed from the ballot in time.

And it would be a substantial risk, betting on New Yorkers to rally behind Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after multiple accusations of sexual harassment, which he denied.

Trump has consistently branded Mamdani a communist, while Mamdani previously labeled himself as ‘Trump’s worst nightmare’.

The president went as far as threatening him with an arrest or even deportation if Mamdani defied his Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this year. 

Mamdani was born in Uganda and immigrated to the United States at the age of seven, he became a naturalized US citizen in 2018. 

Mamdani maintains a double digit lead over Cuomo in the polls

He also has a wide lead over Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa

Trump was born in the Queens borough of the city and pushed his father’s real estate business into Manhattan before turning toward politics.

He officially moved his primary residence from New York to Florida in 2019, during his first White House term.

Relatively unknown when the contest began, Mamdani secured endorsements from progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

On his way to trouncing the competition in the primary, Mamdani beat out Cuomo and several other candidates.

His campaign ran on ideas including free public buses, rent freezes for rent-stabilized apartments, as well as grocery stores that would be owned by the city.

Many Republicans in Washington believe Mamdani becoming mayor of New York would serve them well in the midterms as they’d be able to link his extreme liberal policies to their rival Democrats.