Immigration agents are swarming Chicago and President Donald Trump is threatening to send the National Guard to that city.
But in New York, the president backed down when Gov. Kathy Hochul told him no.
People familiar with their relationship said the Democratic governor is getting along better with the Republican president than other leaders from her party because he doesn’t perceive her as a threat and she’s willing to make a deal. The two talk regularly, the people said.
Plus, the people said, Trump has a soft spot for the city where he grew up and still owns multiple properties — including a gold-plated triplex on Fifth Avenue.
Trump said during a livestreamed Cabinet meeting last month that he gets along with Hochul.
But their detente faces new strain with Hochul’s endorsement of Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City. Trump has attacked Mamdani’s progressive politics, and said Monday that he found Hochul’s endorsement “a rather shocking development, and a very bad one.”
“Washington will be watching this situation very closely,” Trump wrote on social media. “No reason to be sending good money after bad!”
Hochul wrote in a guest essay endorsing the Democratic primary winner that “Mr. Mamdani and I will both be fearless in confronting the president’s extreme agenda — with urgency, conviction and the defiance that defines New York. And we must never allow Mr. Trump to control our city like the king he wants to be.”
It remains to be seen how the mayoral contest will change the relationship between the governor and president — particularly if Mamdani wins. As recently as last week, Trump told radio host Sid Rosenberg that Hochul’s public shots belie cordial communications in private.
“She treats me very much nicer to my face than she does to the public,” Trump said.
Hochul said after Trump’s election that she would work with him when necessary. And there have been several examples over the past several months — and weeks — where they have negotiated amicably.
Trump resumed the state-backed construction of an offshore wind farm after talks with Hochul. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is now reviewing a natural gas pipeline that had previously been canceled.
Hochul has so far fought off efforts by Trump to kill the state’s congestion pricing program, which launched in January. But she cut a deal to let the federal government take over the reconstruction of Penn Station. The project had crawled along under Hochul and her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo.
“If you take a more pragmatic approach with the guy … you cut the deals you can cut,” said Morgan Hook, a Democratic strategist.
Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the business group Partnership for New York City, said Hochul’s deal-making is appealing to Trump. She also said it’s easier for Hochul since she isn’t considered a presidential contender – like the governors of Illinois and California.
“I don't think her style is to challenge his authority, whereas, you know, boys will be boys,” Wylde said. “It tends to be a different approach that apparently triggers a negative reaction from the president. She’s done a very good job at convincing him she's not a threat or an enemy. But she's not a pushover.”
Former Rep. Tom Reynolds, a Republican from suburban Buffalo, said that Hochul and Trump’s regular contact is key: “Generals talk to generals.” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told NPR last week that he has been wary of speaking directly to Trump about the possibility of National Guard troops being deployed to Chicago because he was concerned a private conversation would be used against him.
“He has been conversing with me by standing up in front of television cameras," Pritzker said. “I am conversing with him by standing up in front of television cameras.”
Another factor that Reynolds and others pointed out was the president’s long ties to the state.
“The president is a New Yorker,” Reynolds said. “I think he has a pretty deep understanding of the city and the state.”
Hochul spokesperson Jen Goodman says the governor is “willing to work with anyone who puts the best interests of New York first.”
“But she will not stand by as President Trump attacks our state’s sovereignty, threatens our fundamental rights, and disregards the values that define us as New Yorkers,” Goodman said.
Just last week, Hochul said Trump “screwed” New York by allowing Long Island Rail Road workers to walk away from labor negotiations, setting the stage for a strike.
The White House didn’t return a message seeking comment.
