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The meeting between Mamdani and Trump will happen sometime Friday
Mike Bedigan,Ariana Baio,Rachel Dobkin,Joe Sommerlad,Brendan RasciusFriday 21 November 2025 04:06 GMTComments
CloseWhite House blames Democrats over Trump's threats of death against 'seditious' lawmakers
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President Donald Trump will meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday after months of trading attacks.
“Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday night.
The meeting comes after Trump said a group of Democratic lawmakers should be arrested for “seditious behavior,” which he said was “punishable by death.”
The president was responding to several senators and representatives who put out a video calling for the military to disobey illegal orders.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the Democrats’ message “could inspire chaos.”
Trump has repeatedly called Mamdani a communist and said that New York City has “zero chance of success” with him as mayor. He has even threatened federal funding to the city, saying that it is “highly unlikely” he’d contribute funds, “other than the very minimum.”
Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist and rejected the label of communist, has called Trump’s administration “authoritarian” and railed against the president’s mass deportation efforts.
In his victory speech earlier this month, Mamdani said, “Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I’ve got four words for you: turn the volume up.”
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Democrats fear political violence after Trump accuses Congress members of ‘seditious behavior, punishable by death’
Democrats have voiced their concerns about growing political violence after President Donald Trump accused Congress members of “seditious behavior, punishable by death.”
Trump’s comments came after a group of six Democratic senators and representatives released a video calling on members of the military to “refuse illegal orders.”
One of the senators Trump targeted, Mark Kelly, wrote on X that his wife, former Representative Gabby Giffords “nearly lost her life in an act of political violence. Words have consequences, especially when they come from the President of the United States.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that he requested Capitol Police give “special protection” to the lawmakers that Trump targeted.
“I have asked the Capitol Police to give special protection and keep an eye on [Senator Elissa] Slotkin and Kelly as well because you gotta worry after the president says these things,” he said.
Read on...
Democrats fear political violence after Trump accuses lawmakers of sedition
Capitol Police said the lawmakers Trump targeted were going to be on ‘24/7 security,’ Senator Elissa Slotkin saidRachel Dobkin and Eric Garcia21 November 2025 04:03Did Democrats engage in 'seditious behavior' and is it 'punishable by death' as Trump put it?
Earlier Thursday, President Donald Trump raged at a group of Democratic lawmakers who called for the military to refuse illegal orders.
Trump claimed that the Democrats engaged in “seditious behavior,” which he said was ”punishable by death.” But the president’s claims are baseless, according to U.S. law.
While the Uniform Code of Military Justice requires service members to obey “all lawful orders,” the definition of “lawful orders” as commonly understood excludes orders to commit crimes, target civilians or noncombatants, or perform civilian law enforcement activities that have long been banned under U.S. law.
It’s unclear what, if any, legal grounds would exist to prosecute the representatives and senators for urging service members not to follow illegal orders, as legislators enjoy broad immunity for statements and other acts taken in their official capacities.
Not only does the First Amendment provide broad protection for political speech, the United States has not had laws criminalizing speech against the government as “sedition” on the books since Congress repealed the First World War-era Sedition Act in 1920.
While there is a section of the U.S. criminal code that prohibits “seditious conspiracy” — a rarely used charge last employed against pro-Trump rioters who participated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — that provision only applies to conspiracies to “overthrow, put down, or to destroy” the government by force, “levy war against them” or “prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law” of the U.S. by force and so on.
And despite Trump’s claim that “seditious behavior” is a capital offense, in fact, the U.S. criminal code only provides for a punishment of imprisonment for “not more than 20 years.”
Read more on how the White House has defended Trump’s social media activity on the matter:
White House defends Trump calling for death to members of Congress over video
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the Democratic legislators of attempting to undermine Trump’s authority over America’s armed forcesAndrew Feinberg and Rachel Dobkin21 November 2025 03:30Chuck Schumer on Trump's execution threats: 'He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rebuked President Donald Trump’s threats of execution against Democratic lawmakers, saying on the Senate floor Thursday, “He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline.”
After a group of Democrats released a video urging the military to defy illegal orders, Trump fumed on social media, accusing them of “seditious behavior,” which he said was “punishable by death.” He called them “traitors to our country.”
“We lived through January 6. We’ve lived through the assassination and attempted assassinations this year. We’ve had members whose families have had to flee their homes,” Schumer said. “When Donald Trump uses the language of execution and treason, some of his supporters may very well listen.”
Rachel Dobkin21 November 2025 03:10Tim Walz invokes Melissa Hortman assassination in response to Trump's 'violent rhetoric'
Minnesota governor and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz has invoked the assassination of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman in response to President Donald Trump's “violent rhetoric.”
“Earlier this year, Minnesota Speaker Melissa Hortman was murdered at gunpoint in an act of targeted political violence,” Walz wrote on X Thursday. “We must never forget the horrifying consequences of unchecked, violent rhetoric.”
Walz attached a Truth Social post from Trump that read, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” and another post that Trump reshared that read, “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”
The posts were in response to Democratic lawmakers calling for the military to refuse illegal orders.
Rachel Dobkin21 November 2025 02:50Democratic senator reacts to Trump's execution threats: 'An extremely perilous moment'
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, has responded to Donald Trump's accusation that Democratic lawmakers' “seditious behavior” was “punishable by death.”
Trump’s comments were prompted by several lawmakers, who are military or intelligence community veterans, posting a video calling for the military to refuse illegal orders.
“We have reached an extremely perilous moment in our history,” Gillibrand said in a statement shared on X Thursday. “The president of the United States calling for the death of his political opponents is disgusting, outrageous, and downright dangerous.”
The senator added: “I call on all of my Republican colleagues to condemn President Trump’s disgraceful rhetoric immediately.”
Rachel Dobkin21 November 2025 02:30Gabby Giffords responds to Trump's execution threats against her husband: 'Dangerous and wrong'
Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt, has called President Donald Trump’s execution threats against her husband, Senator Mark Kelly, and other Democratic lawmakers “dangerous and wrong.”
Giffords said her husband “served our country with strength, courage, and integrity, dedicating his career to protecting us and upholding our constitution.”
“Today, the President of the United States called him a traitor and demanded he be executed. It is dangerous and wrong. Americans of all political beliefs need to stand up and say so,” the former congresswoman wrote on X Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, Trump accused the Democrats of “seditious behavior,” which he said was “punishable by death.” His comments were in response to a video that the lawmakers, who are military or intelligence community veterans, posted, calling for the military to refuse illegal orders.
Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 during an event in Tucson, Arizona, by a gunman who killed six people and injured 12 others. She had to learn how to speak and walk again due to her injuries.
How an assassination attempt on his wife propelled former astronaut Mark Kelly to the Senate
After Gabrielle Giffords was nearly murdered by a shooter in 2011, her husband became a dogged gun safety campaigner – even as he commanded one of the Space Shuttle’s final missionsRachel Dobkin21 November 2025 02:10Nancy Pelosi on Trump execution threats: 'I'm worried about the sanity or insanity' of the president
Representative Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who is known for confronting Donald Trump, told The Independent’s Eric Garcia that she is concerned about the president’s “sanity” after he accused a group of Democratic lawmakers of sedition that he said was “punishable by death.”
"I'm worried about the sanity or insanity of the President of the United States to say such a thing,” Pelosi said on Thursday.
Trump’s comments earlier Thursday were in response to Democrats calling for the military to refuse illegal orders.
Rachel Dobkin21 November 2025 01:50Senate GOP leader doesn't agree with Trump's execution threats
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Thursday that he doesn’t agree with President Donald Trump threatening execution after Democratic lawmakers released a video urging the military to defy illegal orders.
“What those folks did was ill-advised, unnecessary and clearly provocative,” Thune said in reference to the Democrats, per The Hill.
He added: “But I certainly don’t agree with the president’s conclusion on how we ought to handle it.”
Trump fumed at the Democrats on social media, accusing them of “seditious behavior,” which he said was “punishable by death.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday (Chip Somodevilla//Getty Images)Rachel Dobkin21 November 2025 01:30White House discussed axing CNN hosts that Trump hates with Larry Ellison as part of takeover talks, report says
Larry Ellison, the largest shareholder of Paramount, reportedly had discussions with the Trump administration about firing CNN hosts the president doesn't like, according to sources close to the matter.
The CNN hosts include Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, the sources told The Guardian.
Paramount has positioned itself as a potential buyer of Warner Bros Discovery. The sources said part of Paramount's interest lies in the idea that Ellison's closeness to Trump would help the deal pass a regulatory review.
Read on...
White House discussed axing CNN hosts that Trump hates with Larry Ellison
Paramount has prepared a bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery, CNN’s parent companyGraig Graziosi21 November 2025 01:10Hakeem Jeffries rails against Mike Johnson for not distancing himself from Trump's execution threats
Earlier Thursday, President Donald Trump accused Democratic lawmakers who called for the military to disobey illegal orders of “seditious behavior,” which he said was “punishable by death.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson described the lawmakers’ comments to The Independent’s Eric Garcia as “wildly inappropriate.”
Reacting to Trump’s response, Johnson said: “What I read was he was defining the crime of sedition,” adding, “But obviously attorneys have to parse the language and determine all that.”
“What's extraordinary to me is that Mike Johnson doesn’t have the decency to distance himself from Donald Trump's death threats leveled at patriotic members of Congress,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters.
After Jeffries’ comments, ABC News’ Rachel Scott reported Johnson as saying, “The words that the President chose are not the ones that I would use. Okay, obviously, I don't think that this is - these are crimes punishable by death or any of that.”
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