Politics makes strange bedfellows. This is especially true in New York, where Donald Trump seems ready to support almost anyone in an effort to defeat Zohran Mamdani. While Zohran’s opponents include the “Never Trump” Republican Curtis Silwa, the Democratic heir Andrew Cuomo, and the unpopular incumbent Eric Adams, Trump sees all of these candidates as better alternatives. Most obviously, Zohran Mamdani is a committed socialist who will oppose the interests of wealthy businessmen, such as Donald Trump. However, the mainstream media has largely ignored another reason why Trump might desperately want Mamdani to lose: Israel.

Simply put, Zohran Mamdani is a threat to the Zionist consensus in America. The idea that all US politicians, no matter if you are a MAGA Republican or a progressive Democrat, must swear allegiance to Israel faced little challenge in the US until Israel began slaughtering innocent Palestinian civilians. Now, only 32% of Americans support Israel’s genocidal military actions in Gaza. Nevertheless, the Democratic establishment in New York is so disconnected from the average voter that every Democratic candidate besides Mamdani promised to travel to Israel if they were elected mayor. Mamdani’s message of staying in New York as mayor to work for New Yorkers has attracted broad support. He has even been able to score a 17-point lead with Jewish voters. Mamdani’s success has alarmed the political establishment, which is why figures like Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams have been promoted as candidates to block his momentum.

Both Cuomo and Adams are Democrats who have held prominent positions in New York politics, yet neither could secure the endorsement of the Democratic Party. On the one hand, the DOJ says Andrew Cuomo has sexually harassed 13 women, and on the other, Eric Adams is perceived as being too close to Trump. However, Eric Adams is currently polling last, and many, including the President, see him as a spoiler candidate. Because of this, Trump is attempting the “RFK Jr. approach,” i.e., offering Eric Adams a position in his administration in exchange for his withdrawal from the race. Currently, the media has reported that the Trump Administration is considering Adams for the position of Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. While Adams has denied that he is dropping out of the race, RFK Jr. also claimed that he would never drop out and endorse Trump before, eventually, doing just that. The ambassadorship gambit makes sense once you understand what’s really at stake for Trump: the survival of the pro-Israel consensus.

Donald Trump is afraid. He has recently openly lamented the fact that the Israel lobby has lost its nearly complete control over Congress, and for good reason. Donald Trump has tied his presidency to Israel, and he is now sinking with the ship. From low approval ratings to many in MAGA criticizing his administration’s Epstein cover-up, Donald Trump needs Israel to win and on Israel’s terms. Trump needs to be able to justify his slavish support for Netanyahu to his own supporters and to the public at large. One of the worst disasters for Trump financially and politically would be the rise of an anti-Zionist leftist in America’s biggest city. Mamdani’s substantial prospect of victory lingers as a specter of anti-capitalism and anti-Zionism over many Zionist businessmen with interests in New York City. Two of these individuals happen to be President Trump and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. While most Americans are aware that Donald Trump has over a billion dollars’ worth of real estate, with much of it located in New York, few are aware that Steve Witkoff, responsible for much of the behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Netanyahu government, also owns millions of dollars’ worth of New York City real estate. For Trump and Witkoff, politics and business are inextricably linked, which is why a Mamdani victory would be seen as a sign of weakness.

Ultimately, a Mamdani victory would signal to the world (and to Trump’s Zionist backers) that he is unable to control the narrative regarding Israel in his country. Such an outcome is worse than a Democrat or liberal-leaning independent winning the New York mayoralty. It would embolden anti-capitalist and, more dangerously for the establishment, anti-Zionist movements. This would prove that even the wealthiest and most powerful figures cannot dictate outcomes in America’s biggest cities. It would challenge the unspoken rule that American politicians must bow to the interests of Israel over their own constituents. For Trump, for businessmen like Witkoff, and for the political establishment, a Mamdani win would be a warning shot: the old levers of influence no longer work, and the voters, not lobbyists of AIPAC or Big Business, now decide.

The post The Real Reason Trump Wants to Reshape the NYC Mayoral Race first appeared on Dissident Voice.

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.