Aug 13, 2026
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Add us on GooglePresident Donald Trump once cozied up to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani last year in the Oval Office. Now, he might attempt to block one of Mamdani’s top priorities from succeeding.
The president said on Monday that he was weighing whether he’d step in to block a proposal from Mamdani that would impose a tax on ultra-wealthy New Yorkers with second homes worth at least $5 million.
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“I am looking to see if the Federal Government has any legal right to avert this disaster, before it is too late,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “This doesn’t work in America, and must be stopped, NOW!”
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Trump also labeled the tax as a “dangerous political ‘experiment’” which would “destroy” New York City.
The levy is already at the center of a legal battle with a Staten Island judge ordering an emergency delay on Monday after a trio of homeowners filed a lawsuit to challenge implementation of the tax. They argue the burden is falling on property owners to demonstrate they don’t have to pay the tax rather than local officials determining who are the affected taxpayers first.
The New York City government quickly filed a motion to seek an appeal, placing the judge’s order on hold.
The annual tax would affect high-value residential properties in New York City as long as they are not a primary residence or occupied by the owner’s family. It would also apply to condos and co-ops worth more than $1 million.
The origins of the tax
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul first proposed it in April with the intent of generating revenue to finance essential services in New York City, such as affordable child care. Mamdani was quick to endorse it as a key piece of his progressive agenda to tax the wealthiest New Yorkers. State officials estimate the tax will bring in at least $500 million per year and help close New York City’s budget gap.
Mamdani’s press office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. He said on Monday that his administration was ready to defend the measure in court.
“We are confident in our position,” Mamdani said at a news conference. “And that is a confidence coming from both the legality of the City’s actions as well as the importance of a surcharge on secondary homes worth more than $5 million, a surcharge that will help fund safer streets, that will help fund stronger schools, and it will help fund the city that New Yorkers deserve.”
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The tax could affect Trump and wealthy business executives
In April, Mamdani promoted the new tax proposal by singling out a luxury penthouse owned by Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, who purchased it for $238 million in 2019, as one of the numerous luxury properties that are subject to the so-called pied-à-terre tax. He said it was designed for “the richest of the rich” in a social media video where he used the Manhattan penthouse building as the backdrop to explain the tax’s goals.
Griffin later called the video “creepy and weird” and suggested it had endangered his life given the rise of political violence.
In late July, the Mamdani administration began notifying NYC property owners of their potential tax obligations under the new law. New York City’s Department of Finance published a data set that identified about 17,000 property owners who are “potentially subject” to the pied-à-terre surcharges.
Trump may have to pay the tax as well, given he still owns a penthouse in Manhattan’s Trump Tower that has a reported assigned market value of $6 million. The Trump Organization didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Joseph Zeballos-Roig is a policy and politics journalist based in Washington D.C with a focus on economics. He is experienced in connecting the significance of events in the capital to the lives of everyday Americans whether its taxes, tariffs, interest rates or federal programs.
