‘Didn’t He Run on Affordability’: While New Yorkers Celebrate Rent Freezing, Trump Disses on Mamdani and Stresses the Need to Increase Rent
New York State of Mind
On June 25, 2026, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani fulfilled one of his campaign promises. A New York City housing board approved a 7-1 vote to freeze rent for approximately 1 million regulated apartments on both one and two-year leases. This freeze applies to new or renewed leases beginning between October 1, 2026, and September 30, 2027. While many New Yorkers were thrilled with the decision, U.S. President Donald Trump apparently was not.
In a video currently going viral on X (formerly Twitter), Trump is seen criticizing Mamdani’s rent-freeze efforts. In the clip, he essentially argues that Mamdani’s rent-freeze ideas are flawed and that, when energy costs rise, the mechanism he has in place is bound to break down, leading New York into a state of imminent doom.
Donald Trump disses on Mamdani’s rent freeze efforts
As previously mentioned, a video that is gaining significant attention on X shows Donald Trump criticizing Zohran Mamdani’s efforts to implement a rent freeze and arguing that it isn’t a good idea.
During the event, Trump called Mamdani, who had visited the White House before, a “nice guy.” He then, speaking in the context of New York’s recent rent freeze, claimed that Mamdani pledged during his mayoral campaign to make the rent freeze in New York apartments happen. He then talked about rising energy costs and how they might affect Mamdani’s efforts at rent freezing, but then shifted the conversation to boast about energy prices dropping to $69 a barrel. He returned to discussing Mamdani again, emphasizing what he believes his efforts in New York would lead to. He said, “What the mayor doesn’t say is that these buildings will soon turn into ghettos and slums and that everybody will continue leaving New York. And as this spreads throughout the country, very much like an uncontrollable form of cancer, the country itself will be taken down. It will be third world, strictly third world.”
A former NYC housing board member accused the committee of bias
According to a BBC article published on June 25, 2026, Christina Smyth, a member of the NYC housing board, was supposed to vote on a rent freeze but publicly resigned before the vote. She accused the committee of prejudice and of “knowingly disregarding its own evidence” that landlords frequently face rising operating costs.
In a statement, Smyth, while reaffirming her claims that the results concerning the rent freeze are biased, said, “The rebuilt board was required to deliver a rent freeze. Everything since has been theater.”
(featured image: White House Gallery)
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