Hochul, Mamdani accuse Trump admin of endangering American lives by withholding federal counterterror funding

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the Trump administration of endangering American lives by withholding $87 million in federal counterterrorism funding from the state. Speaking at a press conference in midtown Manhattan, they warned that synagogues and other targets could face greater risk, especially with the upcoming 25th anniversary of 9/11. Hochul stated, “If you don’t release the counterterrorism funding, you’re betraying every family that lost someone on 9/11.”

• Terrence O’Leary, Commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security, explained that the funding supports 12 bomb squads, hazardous-materials teams, canine units, tactical teams, cybersecurity, intelligence sharing, and training for local law enforcement.
• A spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) countered, accusing Hochul of “manufacturing a funding crisis despite New York sitting on more than $300 million in unspent federal homeland security funding.”
• Separately, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, at his own press conference, accused the Hochul and Mamdani administrations of making New York less safe through their immigration policies, citing over 2,100 arrests of illegal immigrants in a month-long operation.
• Hochul dismissed Mullin’s claims about the arrested individuals, stating, “There’s no way that that number constitutes people who committed crimes the way we consider a crime a crime in New York state.”