Zohran Mamdani’s US citizenship at threat of being ‘stripped’ by Trump

It's been a week since New York City erupted into cheer as Zohran Mamdani was elected the mayor of the Big Apple.

The 34-year-old Democratic socialist, who is set to become the city’s most liberal mayor in generations, made history after becoming the NYC's first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage, and the first born in Africa. He's also the first Millennial to take up the role.

Many New Yorkers, as well as those from further afar all over the world, haven't stopped rejoicing following Mamdani's win - a result which saw the largest voter turnout in a mayoral race in more than half a century, with over two million casting ballots, according to the city’s Board of Elections.

"The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate," Mamdani declared to a roaring crowd at his victory party.

"I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this."

"New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change," the politician further said, vowing to 'wake up each morning with a singular purpose: To make this city better for you than it was the day before'.

Now, despite his opponents being backed by millionaires, Mamdani came out as triumphant - something which US President Donald Trump was far from happy about.

Trump was even accused of being an 'authoritarian dictator' after threatening to withhold funding from the city if Mamdani were to be elected.

"Self-proclaimed New York City Communist, Zohran Mamdani, who is running for Mayor, will prove to be one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party," he wrote on Truth Social.

Mamdani is a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, not a communist.

Trump continued: "He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City. Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfil all of his FAKE Communist promises.

"He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him? This ideology has failed, always, for thousands of years. It will fail again, and that’s guaranteed!"

Now, as we say, Mamdani was born in Uganda and moved to the States in 1998 at the age of seven.

He then became a US citizen in 2018, with Al Jazeera reporting that for adults to become US citizens, they generally must have lived continuously in the country as a lawful permanent resident for five years, or three years if married to a US citizen.

Several Republican lawmakers have called for investigations into Mamdani’s naturalisation process and urged that his US citizenship be revoked and he be deported, accusing him - without evidence - of supporting communist and 'terrorist' activities.

"If Mamdani lied on his naturalisation documents, he doesn’t get to be a citizen, and he certainly doesn’t get to run for mayor of New York City. A great American city is on the precipice of being run by a communist who has publicly embraced a terroristic ideology," Representative Andy Ogles from the Republican party said in a news release dated 29th October, after asking US Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Mamdani.

"The American naturalisation system REQUIRES any alignments with communism or terrorist activities to be disclosed. I’m doubtful he disclosed them. If this is confirmed, put him on the first flight back to Uganda."

PolitiFact found no credible evidence that Mamdani lied on his citizenship application.

Additionally, the process of revoking a person’s citizenship, also known as denaturalisation, can be done only by judicial order.

Earlier this year, ahead of the election results, Trump was asked about Mamdani’s pledge to 'stop masked' ICE agents 'from deporting our neighbours' to which he reportedly responded per Axios: "Well, then, we’ll have to arrest him."

Mamdani then 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 terrorise our city."

He continued: "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."