President Donald Trump endorsed Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s gubernatorial run Friday, attacking Gov. Kathy Hochul and other Democrats in the state as soft on crime.
Trump and top Justice Department officials announced new crime statistics and denounced New York’s new immigration law during an afternoon rally at the Nassau County Police Academy.
Speaking with scores of uniformed cadets behind him, Trump tied sanctuary laws to high-profile crimes. He attacked Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
“We're here today to celebrate the historic progress our administration is making together with law enforcement partners nationwide to restore law and order in America,” Trump said on Long Island. “That includes right here on Long Island, where under the leadership of your county executive, a great person, a friend of mine for a long time, a great political leader, a great politician.”
“We have to get Bruce into office,” Trump later said. “Nowhere is the communist attack on American society more clear than in New York State. The radical-left Governor Kathy Hochul has been very, very bad on crime.”
Hochul in turn has repeatedly attacked Blakeman for his relationship with the president. Her campaign links Blakeman to higher fuel and consumer prices caused by the Iran War and tariffs.
“Donald Trump said it himself: he and Bruce Blakeman are united against Governor Hochul holding rogue ICE agents accountable, putting money back in New Yorkers’ pockets at every opportunity,” Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki said.
Hochul has increased state funding for law enforcement initiatives, including new information-sharing centers and extra NYPD patrols on subways.
Blakeman has embraced Trump, particularly while campaigning in Republican areas. He touts the president’s actions sealing the southern border. He shook the president’s hand on stage.
“Thank you President Trump, and God bless you for everything you do! Keep going!” Blakeman said.
It’s unclear what impact the rally will have on the gubernatorial race. A recent Siena University poll shows Trump is viewed unfavorably by 60% of likely voters in New York.
While Trump can help energize Republicans, poll spokesperson Steve Greenberg said the president won’t help Blakeman bring Democrats and independent voters into his coalition. That’s important because there are twice as many registered Democrats in New York as Republicans.
“Donald Trump has never been popular in New York, not before he ran for president, not while he was president the first time, not in between, and not now in his second term,” Greenberg said.
In an earlier speech, Blakeman bragged about his county’s collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said that by working with ICE agents, police were able to seize guns and drugs and make immigration enforcement more orderly.
Hochul signed a law in May that requires Nassau County and other municipalities to end their formal cooperation agreements with ICE.
Blakeman argues the agreements increase public safety. Hochul says it diverts resources away from other policing activities. The county executive hasn’t said whether he will end his agreement with ICE by the Aug. 25 deadline.
“The safety of New Yorkers is our top priority,” Hochul said in a joint statement with Attorney General Letitia James. “That’s why New York passed these laws, why we will enforce them, and why we will continue standing up to federal overreach. Our job is to enforce the law, and that is exactly what we plan on doing.”
During his speech, Blakeman directly addressed Hochul and defended his work with ICE.
“Kathy Hochul, where do you want those guns? What neighborhood do you want to destroy?” He said. “Where do you want those illegal migrants with criminal records to live? You want them back in New York? We say no!”
Trump called the new law “seditious.”
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in the streets around the afternoon rally.
Erik Villalobos, who is an organizer with the National Day Labor Organizing Network, said ICE’s presence in his hometown is a move “from the Blakeman administration to appeal to Trump."
“It's for him to show that he is Trump's puppet on Long Island, that he's willing to go above and beyond for the administration,” Villalobos said. “In reality, communities here reject that.”
Long Islander Elizabeth Twarowski said she believed God gave Trump his position. She said his visit would help boost Republicans in Nassau County.
“I know that we are a blue state but Nassau County is red,” she said. “I guess that's why he's here, right?”
