Hours before polls opened in the heated New York mayoral race on Monday, United States President Donald Trump backed Andrew Cuomo and threatened to pull federal funds if Democrat Zohran Mamdani won.

He had earlier hinted at this during his 60 Minutes interview on CBS News which aired on Sunday, when he called Mamdani a “communist” and said if he wins, it would be hard “to give a lot of money to New York”.

Here is what Trump has threatened, and what the constitution says about the president’s power to withhold federal funds from individual states.

Who is leading the polls in the New York mayoral election?

According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Mamdani was ahead with 46.1 percent of the vote, holding a 14.3-point advantage over independent Cuomo, at 31.8 percent, an

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