When Zohran Mamdani officially took the oath of office as New York City mayor on Thursday, control of City Hall’s official social media presence shifted along with the job. The @NYCMayor account on X and other platforms now bears Mamdani’s name, even on posts published long before he entered office.
That transition produced an unexpected visual contrast online: Mamdani’s name now appears alongside posts authored by his predecessor, Eric Adams, including several strongly supportive of Israel. Among them is a post describing Adams’ September meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, complete with a photograph of the two leaders together.
Social media users quickly noticed the odd juxtaposition, given Mamdani’s well-documented record of harsh criticism of Israel. Commentators highlighted the irony of seeing the new mayor’s name attached to content that runs counter to his past rhetoric.
Mamdani has repeatedly declined to disavow the slogan “globalize the intifada” and drew sharp criticism for attacking Israel on October 8, 2023, just one day after the Hamas massacre in southern Israel. He has also accused Israel of committing war crimes during its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Adding to the contrast, Mamdani has publicly pledged that he would arrest Netanyahu if the Israeli leader were to visit New York City, citing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. That stance has made the inherited post documenting Adams’ meeting with Netanyahu particularly striking to observers.
At the same time, users on X have pointed out that members of Mamdani’s team have begun removing older posts from the account, including messages in which Adams promised to stand firmly with the Jewish community. As a result, the Netanyahu meeting post — and other similar content — may soon disappear from the mayoral feed.
{Matzav.com}
President Donald Trump pushed back against renewed scrutiny of his health in a wide-ranging interview, insisting he feels fine and explaining why he continues to ignore his doctors’ advice to cut back on aspirin.
Questions about the president’s condition have followed him throughout his second term, particularly after he became the oldest individual to take the oath of office last year. Trump opened the discussion with visible irritation at the recurring focus on his well-being. “Let’s talk about health again for the 25th time,” he said early in the interview. “My health is perfect.”
Trump attributed recent speculation in part to photographs showing bruising on his hand, which the White House has said are a side effect of aspirin use. According to the president, he has been taking a full-strength aspirin daily for more than 20 years as a preventive measure for his heart, a routine he is reluctant to change.
“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” Trump said in the interview with The Wall Street Journal, published Thursday. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”
His physician, Sean Barbabella, has recommended that Trump reduce his daily dosage from 325 milligrams to what is considered a low-dose aspirin, typically around 80 milligrams. Trump acknowledged that advice but said he has chosen to stay the course. “They’d rather have me take the smaller one,” he said. “I take the larger one, but I’ve done it for years, and what it does do is it causes bruising.”
The president also clarified details of medical testing performed during his October visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, saying he underwent a CT scan rather than an MRI, as had previously been reported. He suggested the testing itself fueled unnecessary speculation. “I would have been a lot better off if they didn’t, because the fact that I took it said, ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong,” he said.
While the White House has repeatedly described Trump as being in excellent health, the president readily acknowledged that his lifestyle does not include traditional fitness routines. He said he dislikes structured exercise and prefers golf. “I just don’t like it. It’s boring,” he told the Journal. “To walk on a treadmill or run on a treadmill for hours and hours like some people do, that’s not for me.”
Trump also rejected claims that he has been nodding off during recent public events at the White House, despite images that appeared to show him with his eyes closed. He said those moments have been misinterpreted. “I’ll just close. It’s very relaxing to me. Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink,” he said.
{Matzav.com}
Republicans on Capitol Hill are intensifying their focus on alleged fraud tied to public programs in Minnesota, with House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer announcing plans to call top state officials to testify before Congress.
Comer said the committee will open its inquiry with a hearing in January examining the consequences of suspected misuse of federally funded programs in Minnesota. He added that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison have been invited to appear before the panel in February.
The investigation centers on allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars were siphoned from state-administered nutrition and child care programs beginning in 2021. Federal prosecutors have brought charges against dozens of individuals, and Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that 85 of the 98 people charged in the schemes are of Somali descent.
Comer accused Minnesota’s leadership of failing to stop the alleged misconduct. “Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison have either been asleep at the wheel or complicit in a massive fraud involving taxpayer dollars in Minnesota’s social services programs,” he said in a statement. “American taxpayers demand and deserve accountability for the theft of their hard-earned money.”
The hearings are expected to sharpen Republican attacks not only on Walz but also on Minnesota’s Somali community. Those criticisms have increasingly been echoed by President Donald Trump and members of his administration, who have linked the fraud investigations to broader immigration enforcement actions.
Earlier this month, Trump referred to Somali immigrants as “garbage” during a White House event. On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for Minnesota child care programs, a move the administration framed as part of its response to the fraud allegations.
Trump continued that rhetoric in a social media post Wednesday, calling for the U.S. to “send them back from where they came, Somalia, perhaps the worst, and most corrupt, country on earth.”
The White House has also floated more aggressive steps. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is exploring whether citizenship can be revoked for U.S. citizens of Somali descent charged with benefits fraud, while conceding the effort could face legal challenges. “It’s something the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State is currently looking at right now,” Leavitt said in a Fox News interview. “We know that there are liberal activist judges across this country who will try to block and tackle this administration from pursuing justice at every turn. But that’s not gonna stop the president and his entire cabinet by acting on behalf of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens in the state of Minnesota and in states across the country who have been ripped off by people who have abused our immigration system.”
Walz’s office responded by signaling a willingness to cooperate with Congress while sharply criticizing both the committee and the president. “We’re always happy to work with Congress, though this committee has a track record of holding circus hearings that have nothing to do with the issue at hand,” the governor’s office said. “While the Governor has been working to ensure fraudsters go to prison, the President has been selling pardons to let them out.” The statement did not clearly state whether Walz would appear voluntarily.
The controversy has also been fueled by outside voices. Conservative influencer Nick Shirley recently released a viral video accusing several Minnesota day care centers of public fraud, amplifying attention on the issue after the clip was shared by prominent conservatives and Trump allies, including Elon Musk.
{Matzav.com}
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani began his first full day in office Thursday by unveiling a series of aggressive housing initiatives, signing multiple executive orders and announcing that the city will intervene in a private landlord bankruptcy case involving dozens of buildings.
The announcements were made at a rent-stabilized apartment building in Brooklyn, where Mamdani outlined what he described as a decisive shift in how City Hall will confront landlords and protect tenants.
“Today is the start of a new era for New York City,” Mamdani said. “It is inauguration day. It is also the day that the rent is due.”
Mamdani said the new administration intends to act immediately rather than delay, stressing that it “will not wait to deliver action” and “will stand up on behalf of the tenants of this city.”
He described conditions faced by many New Yorkers returning home after his inauguration, saying that residents are dealing with rising rents while living in apartments where, he said, “bad landlords do not make repairs,” and tenants contend with problems such as cockroaches and insufficient heat.
Among the measures announced were three housing-focused executive orders. The first revives the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, which Mamdani said will prioritize resolving complaints and enforcing accountability for dangerous housing conditions.
“We will make sure that 311 violations are resolved,” Mamdani said, adding that the city will pursue “slumlords” responsible for “hazardous and dangerous threats” to tenant well-being.
A second executive order establishes the LIFT task force, a land inventory initiative aimed at unlocking city-owned property for housing development. Mamdani said the task force will assess municipal land holdings and identify viable development sites by July 1.
The third order creates the SPEED task force — Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development — which Mamdani said will focus on eliminating bureaucratic and permitting obstacles that slow construction.
Both task forces will operate under the supervision of Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Lila Joseph.
“These are sweeping measures, but it is just the beginning of a comprehensive effort to champion the cause of tenants,” Mamdani said.
Earlier Thursday, Mamdani signed executive order No. 1, rescinding all mayoral executive orders issued by Eric Adams on or after Sept. 26, 2024, unless they are formally reissued by the new administration. He also signed a separate order establishing the structure of his administration, including the responsibilities of five deputy mayors.
The Brooklyn building where the mayor spoke, located at 85 Clarkson Ave., is owned by Pinnacle Realty, which Mamdani labeled a “notorious landlord.” He said tenants there have faced persistent issues, including roach infestations and a lack of heat.
According to Mamdani, the property is one of 93 buildings linked to the same landlord, whose portfolio is currently in bankruptcy proceedings. He said the properties are slated to be auctioned to another landlord he claimed ranks sixth on the city’s worst landlord list and collectively carry more than 5,000 unresolved hazardous violations and 14,000 complaints.
“This is an untenable situation,” Mamdani said. “So, today we are announcing that we will be taking action in the bankruptcy case and stepping in to represent the interests of the city and the interests of the tenants.”
He said he has instructed his nominee for corporation counsel, Steve Banks, to pursue what he described as “precedent-setting action” in the case.
“We are a creditor and interested party,” Mamdani said, adding that the city is owed money and intends to fight for “safe and habitable homes” while working to “mitigate the significant risk of displacement” facing residents.
A tenant who spoke at the event detailed long-standing safety problems in Pinnacle-owned buildings, saying that a section of hardwood flooring in the speaker’s mother’s apartment has gone unrepaired for seven years.
“When they filed for bankruptcy this spring, Pinnacle gambled on making our housing less affordable and our lives more miserable,” the tenant said.
{Matzav.com}
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The White House is seeking rapid approval for President Donald Trump’s proposal to construct a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the East Wing, aiming to move the project through federal review in roughly nine weeks—an unusually compressed schedule compared with similar large-scale undertakings that often take years.
According to planning documents, the first public briefing is set for Jan. 8 before the National Capital Planning Commission, followed by a Jan. 15 presentation to the Commission of Fine Arts. Final action is slated for Feb. 19 at the CFA and March 5 at the NCPC.
A White House official told The Washington Post that applications were formally submitted on Dec. 22 to both panels, which Congress has tasked with reviewing federal construction. The CFA has confirmed receipt of an application, while the NCPC said Tuesday that it had not yet received one.
The accelerated push comes as the project faces legal opposition. In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed suit against President Trump and several federal agencies, arguing that required approvals had not been secured. The group contends the ballroom is moving forward without mandated reviews.
“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,” the lawsuit said.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon declined to issue a temporary restraining order, ruling that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated “irreparable harm” at this point. He added, however, that the government must be prepared to reverse any below-ground work that locks in a particular design.
The ballroom plan would far exceed the scope of other changes made since the president’s January return to office, which include gold accents added throughout the Oval Office and the conversion of the Rose Garden lawn into a paved patio reminiscent of Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
At a Hanukkah reception at the White House, the president said the proposed ballroom would carry a $400 million price tag, an increase from an earlier estimate of $300 million.
“President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify the White House — just like all of his predecessors did,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said recently.
{Matzav.com}
On his first day in office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani revoked all of the executive orders that his predecessor, Eric Adams, has issued since Sept. 26, 2024, including several designed to protect Jews, in order, he said, to have a “fresh start for the incoming administration.”
The mayor, who has said he would have the Israeli prime minister arrested in New York City and who has many Jews in the city worried for their safety, didn’t say why he chose that date. But Sept. 26, 2024, was the day that Adams was indicted on federal bribery and campaign finance offense charges.
Mamdani stated at first in a release that he was revoking all order prior to Sept. 26, 2024, although the text of the order stated that it was discontinuing all of the orders post-Sept. 26, 2024. The mayor’s office sent out a second press release specifying that it was orders after that date.
In the waning hours of his mayorship, Adams and the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism released an annual report on combating Jew-hatred. Adams created that office on Jew-hatred on May 13 via executive order No. 51. The status of the office wasn’t immediately clear, although Moshe Davis, its executive director, still had his title listed on LinkedIn and on X as of press time.
In the Dec. 30 report on Jew-hatred, Adams and the mayor’s office noted other executive orders that he issued—which Mamdani now appears to have axed. On June 8, Adams adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred via executive order No. 52.
On Dec. 2, Adams signed executive order No. 60, which barred city entities and personnel from boycotting or divesting from Israel, and No. 61, which directs the New York City Police Department to look into creating zones around houses of worship in which protesting would be prohibited.
After protesters blocked Jews from entering a Manhattan synagogue in November, Mamdani’s spokeswoman said that synagogues shouldn’t host pro-Israel events which, she said, violated international law.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Adams had created the New York City–Israel Economic Council via executive order in May or via another means, or what its current status is.
In his inaugural address on Thursday, Mamdani referred to the beginning of a “new era.”
“I stand alongside countless more New Yorkers watching from cramped kitchens in Flushing and barbershops in East New York, from cell phones propped against the dashboards of parked taxi cabs at LaGuardia, from hospitals in Mott Haven and libraries in El Barrio that have too long known only neglect,” he said. “I stand alongside construction workers in steel-toed boots and halal cart vendors whose knees ache from working all day.”
“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try,” he said.
Mamdani added that the authors of the city’s story will “speak Pashto and Mandarin, Yiddish and Creole” and “will pray in mosques, at shul, at church, at Gurdwaras and Mandirs and temples—and many will not pray at all.”
“They will be Russian Jewish immigrants in Brighton Beach, Italians in Rossville and Irish families in Woodhaven—many of whom came here with nothing but a dream of a better life, a dream which has withered away,” he said. “They will be young people in cramped Marble Hill apartments where the walls shake when the subway passes. They will be black homeowners in St. Albans whose homes represent a physical testament to triumph over decades of lesser-paid labor and redlining.”
“They will be Palestinian New Yorkers in Bay Ridge, who will no longer have to contend with a politics that speaks of universalism and then makes them the exception,” he added.
Mamdani said that his movement was supported in part at “DSA meetings,” referring to the Democratic Socialists of America. “I was elected as a Democratic socialist and I will govern as a Democratic socialist,” he said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical.”
“To live in New York, to love New York, is to know that we are the stewards of something without equal in our world. Where else can you hear the sound of the steelpan, savor the smell of sancocho and pay $9 for coffee on the same block?” he added. “Where else could a Muslim kid like me grow up eating bagels and lox every Sunday?” JNS
{Matzav.com}
