Hochul accuses Trump administration of 'defunding the police,' enacting 'revenge' on blue state
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul accused President Donald Trump of "defunding the police" while accusing the Department of Homeland Security of "withholding" counterterrorism funding.
Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul accused President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security of "withholding" millions of dollars in counterterrorism funding.
"The Department of Homeland Security, the agency created in response to 9/11, is withholding 40% of New York State's counterterrorism funding," Hochul asserted during a press conference with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday.
"That 40% adds up to $87 million," she said.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul listens as Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during the annual New York State Financial Control Board meeting on Aug. 12, 2026, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The Democratic governor accused the president of "defunding the police" and said he is "endangering public safety to yet again extract revenge on a blue state."
"Don't play political games with people's lives. Release the $87 million you owe us," Hochul said to the president.
"Because if you don't release the counterterrorism funding, you're betraying every family that lost someone on 9/11. You're betraying every police officer and firefighter who puts their lives on the line every single day. And you're betraying every New Yorker who no longer believes that the federal government is there to protect them," she said.
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President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 31, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Mamdani declared that "the federal government's refusal to provide $87 million in critical public safety and emergency readiness funding that was promised is so unacceptable."
"We are talking about the money needed to fully fund 12 bomb squads across New York. We are talking about the money needed to ensure that in the event of a catastrophic attack, the FDNY can communicate internally and respond effectively. And we are talking about making sure that should New Yorkers ever face a radiological threat, our first responders have the training, the equipment and the capabilities they need to respond. To put it simply, there is no excuse for the federal government to leave the nation's largest city to shoulder this burden alone," he said.
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, a FEMA spokesperson said, "Governor Hochul is manufacturing a funding crisis despite New York sitting on more than $300 million in UNSPENT federal homeland security funding. For more than two decades, New York has received substantial federal homeland security funding. In fact, they traditionally received allocations significantly ABOVE risk-based formulas, allowing them to rake in MORE and MORE money than other states."
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference following a fatal stabbing in Times Square in Manhattan, New York, on Aug. 31, 2026. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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"Instead of falsely accusing President Trump of defunding law enforcement, Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani should answer a much simpler question: Why is New York and NYC demanding even more taxpayer money when it has failed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars already provided to protect its communities?" the statement added.
