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Zohran Mamdani
Trump administration raises possibility of stripping Mamdani of US citizenship
Move comes after rightwing Republican accuses New York City mayoral candidate of concealing support for ‘terrorism’
Robert Tait
Tue 1 Jul 2025 23.21 BST
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The Trump administration has raised the possibility of stripping Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral candidate for New York City, of his US citizenship as part of a crackdown against foreign-born citizens convicted of certain offences.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, appeared to pave the way for an investigation into Mamdani’s status after Andy Ogles, a rightwing Republican representative for Tennessee, called for his citizenship to be revoked on the grounds that he may have concealed his support for “terrorism” during the naturalization process.
Mamdani, 33, who was born in Uganda to ethnic Indian parents, became a US citizen in 2018 and has attracted widespread media attention – and controversy – over his vocal support for Palestinian rights.
Donald Trump was asked on Tuesday about Mamdani’s pledge to “stop masked” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents “from deporting our neighbors”. The US president responded: “Well, then, we’ll have to arrest him,” Axios reported.
Mamdani posted a statement on X in response. “The President of the United States just threatened to have me arrested, stripped of my citizenship, put in a detention camp and deported. Not because I have broken any law but because I will refuse to let Ice terrorize our city,” he wrote.