In second term, President Donald Trump is weighing in frequently on issues in New York

WASHINGTON — As a Manhattan real estate mogul, Donald Trump was known for sounding off on local issues by calling into radio talk shows, running newspaper ads and firing off social media missives.

From the Oval Office, Trump continues to weigh in on New York happenings, but now he has the perch of the presidency to influence projects and policy in his former home state.

Since returning to office for a second term Trump has ordered the repeal of the Manhattan congestion pricing program, has announced plans for the federal government to take over the Penn Station renovation from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, suspended the Empire Wind project off Long Island and directed the Department of Education to investigate whether the state is violating civil rights laws by discouraging Massapequa High School’s use of a Native American mascot.

The Department of Justice has also said it will sue the state in federal court over so-called sanctuary policies that limit the sharing of information between state agencies and federal immigration enforcers. And the administration has moved to strip the state’s two Ivy League universities — Columbia and Cornell — of millions in federal funding as it investigates alleged civil rights violations that campus officials deny.

Republicans see the president’s interventions as an asset, asserting that it shows his outsize interest in his former home state. But Democrats contend that Trump, who frequently praises state rights, is essentially trampling over those rights.

Nassau GOP Chairman Joe Cairo, who said he speaks by phone with Trump from "time to time," said the Queens-born Trump always asks about his support on Long Island and is "kept abreast" of local issues by reading New York news coverage.

"He's got an interest in Nassau County overall and we appreciate that," Cairo said in a phone interview. "Hey, it's great to have a relationship with the president like that."

Democratic lawmakers have had to walk a fine line between pushing back on Trump’s interventions and acknowledging that he wields immense power over federal funding and legislation with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who met with Trump at the White House in March to discuss his repeal of the congestion pricing program, said in a podcast interview a day after the meeting that she was prepared to fight Trump but that she also had to be selective about which battles to wage.

"We've had a lot of pretty high-profile fights, and I'll do it," Hochul said on the podcast "Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast." "I'm not looking to hit him on every single thing because we'll lose our credibility."

Long Island’s House delegation is hoping that Trump’s Empire State interest will lead to movement on his campaign pledge to repeal his 2018 cap on the state and local tax deduction known as SALT.

Trump pledged on the campaign trail to "get SALT back." But as the White House and Republican congressional leaders negotiate a sweeping tax-reform package they hope to pass by July, most discussions have reportedly focused on raising the $10,000 cap to a higher figure versus a full repeal.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), who co-chairs the bipartisan House SALT Caucus, said in a statement that he is "glad to see [Trump] engaging on key issues for New York like SALT, 9/11 health care, congestion pricing and others."

"I’ll keep working with the administration to make sure New Yorkers’ interests are heard," Garbarino said in an email to Newsday.

Push for SALT deduction

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in January along with Garbarino and a handful of blue-state Republicans to push for a repeal of the SALT cap. 

LaLota told Newsday that the president and House GOP leaders are aware that New York House Republicans are prepared to leverage their votes in the narrowly split House to ensure there is tax relief beyond the $10,000 cap.

LaLota defended Trump's influencing federal actions on New York. "When local leadership collapses, Washington must step up where it can," LaLota said in a phone interview, "and President Trump is doing just that."

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said in a phone interview that he welcomes "the president's attention on New York, especially if he helps restore SALT and upgrade the Merchant Marine Academy," in Kings Point.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy toured the academy with Suozzi last month and agreed the site was in need of federal funding for repairs. But Duffy stopped short of endorsing a bipartisan bill sponsored by the Long Island House delegation that calls for $1 billion over 10 years to modernize the campus, Newsday previously reported.

Suozzi said that while he is open to working with the administration, he does have concerns about the "recklessness" of the cuts implemented by Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, including layoffs at the World Trade Center Health Program. The Trump Administration last month told New York House Republicans that cuts to the program would be reversed, but advocates have raised concerns that the administrator of the program — Dr. John Howard — has yet to be reinstated.

Rep. Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre), said in an email to Newsday that voters in her Nassau district were clear about their expectations from Trump and lawmakers alike — "they want relief from the high cost of living, our broken immigration system fixed and the SALT cap repealed."

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in a statement to Newsday called on Trump to "restore the full SALT deduction he ripped away to pay for tax cuts for his billionaire buddies," referring to corporate tax cuts that were part of Trump’s 2018 tax law.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in an email noted that several of the "complex and extensive infrastructure projects" that the Trump administration has sought to take over or stop all previously received "significant input from their local communities."

"Rather than inserting himself into the process, President Trump should focus on national issues — like the fact that our economy just shrank due to his destructive trade war," Gillibrand said, referring to a Commerce Department report released Wednesday that showed the economy contracted in the first quarter of the year for the first time since 2022.

Focus on the suburbs

As national polls show Trump grappling with low approval ratings, he is focusing on local issues that will further endear him to suburban voters, said Mike Dawidziak, a Bayport based Republican political strategist who worked for former President George H.W. Bush.

"He's picking and choosing stuff which he believes is going to be popular in the suburban base," Dawidziak told Newsday in a phone interview. "I'm sure he knows that Massapequa is solid red, scarlet red. I’m sure he knows that congestion pricing is deeply unpopular on Long Island. That kind of intervention is not going to hurt local Republicans politically. What local Republicans need to be worried about is people being afraid about potential Medicaid cuts, and losing money in their portfolios and 401(k)’s, and inflation pricing likely due to tariffs."

The White House did not return a request for comment, but New York GOP spokesman David Laska told Newsday that the local issues on Trump’s agenda "are not just state and local issues, these are quality of life issues that resonate nationally."

"President Trump might live in the White House and be a Florida resident now, but we know that his heart is in New York," Laska said in a phone interview. "He built his business here, his brand here, his movement started in New York, and I know President Trump hasn't forgotten that. You can take the man out of New York, but you can't take New York out of the man."

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.