Trump Threatens to Arrest 2 Political Opponents in Same Press Conference, Hours After Entertaining Elon Musk Deportation
While speaking with reporters, Trump called N.Y.C. mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a "communist," questioned his citizenship, and threatened to jail him if he wins the November election and interferes with ICE arrests
The president also pondered prison time for Joe Biden's former homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, who was impeached in 2024 by the Republican-led HousePresident Donald Trump went on several tirades about former friends and political opponents alike on Tuesday, July 1, even threatening to jail a rising political star and a former Biden Cabinet member.
After touring a new detention facility for detainees of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida, Trump sat down with reporters at "Alligator Alcatraz" to answer a few questions.
Asked about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — who had just officially earned the Democratic nomination on Tuesday — the president said, 'A lot of people are saying he's here illegally."
Mamdani, 33, was born in Uganda and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018. He defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a major election upset as a self-described Democratic Socialist, which also earned Trump's ire.
'We don't need a communist in this country," he said. "But if we have one, I'm going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation... We're going to look at everything.'
Trump was also asked about Mamdani's campaign promises to "stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors."
His response? 'Well then, we'll have to arrest him.'
Mamdani later responded to Trump's claims, saying, "His statements don't just represent an attack on our democracy, but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: If you speak up, they will come for you. We will not accept this intimidation."
Trump also threatened to jail another political foe, former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who held the role from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden.
Mayorkas was successfully impeached by the Republican-led House of Representatives in January 2024 over claims that he was personally responsible for an uptick in illegal border crossings.
At the time, DHS called the impeachment proceedings "a distraction from other vital national security priorities and the work Congress should be doing to actually fix our broken immigration laws." Mayorkas was later acquitted by the Senate.
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Nevertheless, Trump used the impeachment as a talking point during his 2024 presidential campaign, and criticized him once again on Tuesday when a reporter asked why Mayorkas hadn't faced further consequences, including imprisonment.
Trump responded that Biden gave preemptive pardons to some of his allies, and that he couldn't remember if Mayorkas was one of them. The reporter informed Trump that Mayorkas was not covered in the pardons, and therefore could be prosecuted.
"If he wasn't given a pardon, I could see looking at that," Trump said, before asking current Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to "take a look at it."
"What he did is beyond incompetent. Something had to be done," he added. 'I'll take a look at that one."
Trump's latest tirades against Mamdani and Mayorkas came just a few hours after he rekindled his feud with Elon Musk over the tech billionaire's criticism of the president's expansive budget bill.
In a lengthy rant posted to Truth Social, Trump threatened to use the Department of Government Efficiency against its former leader to reevaluate Musk's government aid.
"Elon may get more [subsidies] than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa," the post said. "No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE."
While speaking to reporters later, Trump mocked: "DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible?"
He also told reporters that he doesn't know yet if he would try to deport Musk, who became an American citizen in 2002, adding, "We'll have to take a look."
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