Tick tock.
President Trump told a prominent New Yorker he wants long-shot mayoral hopefuls to bow out of the crowded field — by next week — in an attempt to stave off a socialist-run City Hall, The Post has learned.
Trump on Sunday rang up billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, who has longtime ties to both Mayor Eric Adams and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa, and voiced his dismay about what might happen to the Big Apple if Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic front-runner and proud socialist, wins in November.
“He is concerned about the New York City race. He does not want a socialist mayor, and he said, ‘It’s not going to happen’ under his watch,” Catsimatidis told The Post.
Trump, in a historic interjection by a president in a New York City mayoral race, said he wanted the field to be winnowed down in the next 10 days.
“At the end of the next 10 days, he wants the most qualified candidate to beat Mamdani,” Catsimatidis said.
Pressed on what the president said he would do at the deadline next Wednesday, the self-made mogul would only say, “He’s going to do whatever he has to do.”
Trump was later asked if he was trying to get a mayoral candidate to drop out.
“No, I don’t like to see a communist become mayor. I won’t tell you that. And I don’t think you can win, unless you have one-on-one,” he told reporters.
“I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one-on-one. And I think that’s a race.”
Sources with knowledge of Trump’s thoughts on the race said the president is looking for ways to get Sliwa and Adams to step aside in favor of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
If the deadline isn’t met, the bombastic prez could opt to publicly lambaste Adams, Sliwa or both contenders until at least one of them gives in to public pressure and bows out.
Trump — who has already taken to social media to rip Mamdani — could also take a more forceful approach, even possibly using the National Guard as he has in Washington DC and threatened to do in Chicago.
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And while the federal corruption case against Adams was jettisoned by Trump’s Justice Department, some of the mayor’s inner circle has come under law-enforcement scrutiny. Federal prosecutors, for instance, have been eyeing one of Adams’ trusted advisers, Winnie Greco, who was volunteering for his re-election bid until late last month when it was revealed that she’d handed a reporter a wad of cash stuffed in a potato chip bag.
The political maneuvering by Trump isn’t based on any sort of affection for Cuomo, but rather the series of polls since the primary that still have the former governor holding steady in second, followed by Sliwa in third and Adams a distant fourth.
The president and others in the party believe the ex-gov could make the best run at the socialist candidate, with polling showing Mamdani’s approval stalling and historically high negatives for a Democratic nominee, sources said.
Either candidate dropping out would give a boost to Cuomo, the sources added.
Top White House officials have discussed finding a potential gig in the administration for the beleaguered incumbent mayor, possibly an ambassadorship, in a bid to convince him to drop his independent re-election run, it emerged Wednesday.
Adams, during a trip to Florida earlier this week, even met with Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, sources said Thursday.
Adams traveled to the Sunshine State late Monday as part of an undisclosed trip that was later confirmed by his team to be part of his 65th birthday celebration.
The mayor didn’t reveal what he did during the jaunt south, but did not deny that he met with people in the Trump administration, when asked.
Adams has insisted publicly that he’s staying put, but has apparently told a small group of friends and advisers that the right job offer could prompt him to ditch his campaign, according to The New York Times.
Insiders have told The Post that Adams’ contempt of Cuomo for swooping into the mayoral election seemingly trumps his disdain at the idea of a Mamdani-run city.
“While other candidates have quit their jobs, Mayor Adams hasn’t walked away from his responsibilities,” said Adams campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro. “He is running for re-election not because he needs another position, but because he believes deeply in the future of this city and has a proven record of getting things done.”
Sliwa also again on Thursday slapped down the notion that he should bow out of the race.
“I am the only major-party candidate on the ballot besides Mamdani, and I am not dropping out because I will save this city,” he said.
Cuomo, meanwhile, rejected the idea that Trump would do anything to help the thrice-elected Democratic governor achieve his political comeback.
“I believe it’s Donald Trump’s interest for Mamdani to win,” he told reporters on the Upper West Side during a campaign press conference.
“Number one, he would hold him up like a poster child, run around the country, and say, ‘This is who the Democrats elected.’ This socialist.’ And number two, it would justify his takeover in New York, which is what he really wants to do,” Cuomo claimed.
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