US President Donald Trump has said he would be reluctant to send federal funding to his hometown of New York City if left-wing front-runner Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor of America's biggest city this week.
"It's gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York, because if you have a Communist running New York, all you're doing is wasting the money you're sending there," Trump said in a television interview.
The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to cut federal grants and funding for projects primarily located in Democratic-run areas.
Opinion polls indicate Mamdani is ahead of his main rival, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, on the eve of Tuesday's vote.
Trump did not elaborate on his remark about funding should Mamdani win. New York City received $7.4bn (£5.7bn) in federal funding this fiscal year.
