‘We made history’: Mamdani celebrates after shocking Cuomo in New York City mayoral primary – US politics live | US news

‘We made history’: Mamdani celebrates after shocking Cuomo in New York City mayoral primary
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
We start with Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in the New York City mayoral primary.
In a major upset, Andrew Cuomo who had been a recent favourite – conceded after it was clear the 33-year old democratic had built a substantial lead over the more experienced but scandal-scarred former governor.
Mamdani’ appeared to have cleared the first hurdle on the road to become New York’s first Muslim mayor.

In a speech to supporters, Mamdani said: “We made history,” adding: “I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.”
If his win is confirmed, Mamdani will be seen as the frontrunner for the 4 November mayoral election in New York, a city where Democrats normally dominate.
After 93% of votes were counted in the primary’s first round, Mamdani, a state representative, had 43.5% of the vote. Cuomo was on 36.4%.
Cuomo, who was attempting a political comeback after he resigned from office in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal, said he had called Mamdani to congratulate him.
“He put together a great campaign and he touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote,” Cuomo said. “I applaud him sincerely for his effort.”
However, Cuomo told the New York Times he may still run in the November mayoral election as an independent. “I want to analyse and talk to some colleagues,” he said.
In other developments:
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Donald Trump hit back at a leaked preliminary US intelligence assessment which cast doubt on the success of US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites. Trump said Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back “decades” by the strikes despite the reports suggesting they had only set it back by months. Ahead of meeting with other world leaders at a Nato Summit in the Hague, he said he believed “total obliteration” was achieved. “This was a devastating attack,” Trump told reporters. Asked about the intelligence reports, Trump said “they really don’t know.” He added: “The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests.”
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Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, called the leak “treasonous” and called for the individual responsible to be investigated
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Meanwhile Nato secretary general Mark Rutte was full of praise for the US strikes, saying they “took out the nuclear capability of Iran”, he added that it been carried out in an “impressive way”.
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As mentioned, Trump is at The Hague where leaders of the Western defensive alliance have gathered. They are set to commit to a new defence spending target of 5% of GDP and demonstrate that European allies are stepping up. This is Trump’s first Nato summit since 2019.
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At The Hague, Trump confirmed commitment to Nato’s Article 5 which states that an attack on one member is seen as attack on all members. When asked about Article 5 he said: “We are with them all the way.” It was in contrast to earlier comments he made en route to The Hague. “There’s numerous definitions of Article Five, you know that right?” he had said.
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Speaking at The Hague, Trump likened the US strikes on Iran to his country’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in the second world war. “That hit ended the war,” he said. “That hit ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing that ended that war. This ended that, this ended that war. If we didn’t take that out, they would have been they’d be fighting right now.”
Key events
Trump plans to hit Spain with increased tariffs, he said at the Nato summit, because the country has not committed to meet the new 5% target commitment that other countries agreed to at the summit.
He said it was “terrible” what Spain had done and that “we’ll make it up” with trade deals.
“We’re negotiating with Spain on a trade deal. We’re going to make them pay twice as much. And I’m actually serious about that … so they want a little bit of a free ride, but they’ll have to pay it back to us on trade, because I’m not going to let that happen. It’s unfair.”
Speaking after the Nato summit, Trump has weighed in on the wars in Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Iran and defended US bombing of three nuclear sites, claiming the sites are obliterated despite intelligence reports that have cast doubt on these claims.
Here’s a sampling of Trump’s comments:
On Israel-Iran, he said he believes the war is over: “I dealt with both, they’re both tired, exhausted. They fought very, very hard and very viciously, very violently, and they were both satisfied to go home and get out. And can it start again? I guess someday, it can. It could maybe start soon.”
On Iran’s nuclear potential: “I don’t see them being back involved in the nuclear business anymore.”
Trump said the US would meet with Iranian officials next week to discuss what happens next, but he didn’t say there needed to be an agreement signed with the country. “The only thing we would be asking for is what we were asking for before, we want no nuclear.”
Trump met with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy while at the summit and said it was a good, friendly meeting. They didn’t discuss a ceasefire, but Trump said it’s clear they want the war to end.
Of the meeting with Zelenskyy, he said: “I think he’d like to see an end to this. I do I think what I took from the meeting couldn’t have been nicer, actually, but I took from the meeting that he’d like to see it end. I think it’s a great time to end it. I’m going to speak to Vladimir Putin see if we can get it ended.”
Trump is now speaking at the Nato summit, detailing his thoughts on the agreement for countries to contribute more to the alliance.
You can watch him live here, or follow the remarks step by step on the Nato liveblog.
He is also talking about the US intervention into the Israel-Iran conflict.
JB Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, will run for a third term as governor, according to the Associated Press, which cites “two people familiar with his plans”.
Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, has worked for years to build national recognition and is often part of a short list of Democrats who could run for president in 2028. Kamala Harris considered him as a running mate in 2024.
Since Trump’s re-election, Pritzker has often spoken out against the administration. It’s not clear if another run for the governorship will take him out of the running for a 2028 presidential race.
Pritzker is expected to announce his run for a third term on Thursday.
US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr told a global vaccine alliance that the US wouldn’t be sending money to help fund its efforts to vaccinate children around the world, according to Politico.
A video speech from Kennedy to the Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance pledging summit took the organization to task for its views on vaccines, claiming the organization didn’t listen to science if it wasn’t aligned with its beliefs. The group, a public-private partnership, says it “helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against deadly and debilitating infectious diseases”.
“I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust and to justify the $8bn that America has provided in funding since 2001,” he said, according to Politico. “And I’ll tell you how to start taking vaccine safety seriously: Consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts established paradigms. Until that happens, the United States won’t contribute more to Gavi.”
The video comes after Kennedy faced a grilling Tuesday in the House health subcommittee, including over his firing of the entire vaccine advisory committee. That committee is set to meet today for the first time since Kennedy fired and then replaced it with members who are skeptical of vaccines.
Trump confirms US commitment to Nato at annual summit
At the Nato summit today, Donald Trump confirmed the US is committed to Nato, despite his frequent criticisms of other countries and how much they pay for defense.
As he made his way to the summit, he wouldn’t say whether he supported Article 5, the cornerstone of the Nato alliance that calls for mutual defense of members.
But, according to Reuters, he said at the summit: “I stand with Article 5.”
Trump is expected to speak in a press conference from the summit soon. To follow the play-by-play of the Nato summit, check out our liveblog from the event.

Joanna Walters
David Hogg, the recently-ousted young vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, whose vow to unseat “asleep at the wheel” old school Democrats roiled his party, has celebrated Andrew Cuomo’s besting by Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary last night.
“Cuomo. Is. Cooked,” he posted on X.
Then followed up with: “And so is the establishment that brought us here. It’s gonna be a fun next couple years.”
Hogg rose to prominence as a gun-control activist after surviving the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and was elected in February as one of five officials – and the first gen-Z member – to serve as vice-chair of the DNC.
As part of his drive to reform the party, Hogg announced plans to spend millions of dollars to unseat what he regarded as played-out establishment Democrats in safely blue districts through Leaders We Deserve, a separate political organization that he founded and leads. Few Democrats disagree with the need for change but leadership balked at Hogg’s rebellious tactics. He’s now clearly feeling vindicated.
And here’s our colleague Lauren Gambino’s interview with Hogg last month.
Trump praises Nato states as summit prepares to lift defence spending target

Dan Sabbagh
Donald Trump praised Nato countries for being willing to lift defence spending to 5% in his first public remarks at the military alliance’s annual summit, and said that he expected the US to be fully in support.
The president was speaking at a preliminary press conference in The Hague that was dominated by his rejection of overnight reports that Iran’s nuclear sites were not destroyed in US bombing, and where he was also praised by the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, for being the “daddy”.
Asked about Nato before a morning plenary session of the leaders of all 32 Nato countries, where they will sign off on the spending increase, Trump said: “We’re with them all the way. They have very big things to announce today.
“I’ve been asking to go up to 5% for a number of years and they’re going up to 5%, from 2%, and a lot of people didn’t even pay the 2%. I think that’s going to be very big news. Nato’s going to become very strong with us.”
Under the new plan, Nato members will commit to lifting defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, of which 3.5% is core military spending and the rest is infrastructure, intelligence, cybersecurity and other spending allies can already match.
Read the full report here:
Union leaders’ exit from DNC exposes ‘mind-boggling’ tensions inside Democratic party

Steven Greenhouse
As the Democratic party fights to rebuild from a devastating election defeat, the abrupt exit of the presidents of two of the nation’s largest labor unions from its top leadership board has exposed simmering tensions over the party’s direction.
Randi Weingarten and Lee Saunders quit the Democratic National Committee, saying it isn’t doing enough to “open the gates” and win back the support of working-class voters. Ken Martin, the new DNC chair, and his allies told the Guardian that the party was focused on doing exactly that.
Weingarten, president of the 1.8-million-member American Federation of Teachers, resigned after Martin did not renominate her to serve on the DNC’s important rules committee. In her resignation letter, Weingarten wrote that education, healthcare and public service workers were in “an existential battle” due to Donald Trump’s attacks and that she did not “want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent”.
Saunders, the long-time president of the 1.3-million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also issued a critical statement. “These are new times. They deserve new strategies,” he said. “We must evolve to meet the urgency of the moment. This is not a time to close ranks or turn inward … It is our responsibility to open the gates [and] welcome others.”
You can read the full report here:
Iran’s nuclear installations ‘badly damaged’ by US strikes – Iran foreign ministry
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson says its nuclear installations were “badly damaged” by US military strikes, the Associated Press reports.
US asked France to speak to Iran before Israel truce – AFP
France conveyed to Iran the terms of a US-proposed ceasefire with Israel at the request of Washington in the hours leading up to the truce, a French diplomatic source said on Wednesday, AFP reports.
On Monday night, US secretary of state Marco Rubio called his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to “inform him of the US wish for a ceasefire provided there was no Iranian retaliation,” the source said.
“Rubio asked Jean-Noel Barrot to transmit this information to Abbas Araghchi,” their Iranian counterpart, it said.
“After the call, the (French) minister spoke to his Iranian counterpart to… transmit the terms and details of the discussions (between) Americans and Israelis,” the source added.
Araghchi then indicated his “availability to continue negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme” including with France, Britain and Germany, and “after these discussions, the ceasefire was able to go into force”, it said.
Donald Trump said on Wednesday he believed that “great progress” is being made on Gaza, Reuters reports.
“I think great progress is being made on Gaza, I think because of this attack that we made,” said Trump, suggesting the US strikes on Iran could have a positive impact on the Middle East.
Pakistan and the US have resolved to conclude trade talks next week, the South Asian nation’s finance ministry said on Wednesday, after a meeting between its finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, Reuters reports.
The negotiations, focused on reciprocal tariffs, are part of a broader push to reset economic ties at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments and Pakistan’s efforts to avoid steep US duties on exports.
“Both sides showed satisfaction on the ongoing negotiations and resolved to conclude the trade negotiations next week,” Pakistan’s finance ministry said in a statement, adding that a longer-term strategic and investment partnership is also under discussion.
Pakistan faces a 29% tariff on exports to the US under Donald Trump’s measures to target countries with large trade surpluses with the US.
Pakistan’s surplus was around $3bn in 2024.
To offset the imbalance and ease tariff pressures, Islamabad has offered to import more US goods, including crude oil, and to open up investment opportunities through concessions for US firms in Pakistan’s mining sector.
Trump’s state visit to the UK set for September
Donald Trump is to make a full state visit to the UK this year after the King and the US president’s busy diaries mean they are unable to meet informally first over the summer, PA Media reports.
The Times reported that UK prime minister Keir Starmer has gone against the wishes of the King by bringing Mr Trump’s “bells and whistles” state visit forward to September.
Charles, who is King of Canada, suggested in a letter personally delivered to Mr Trump by Starmer in the Oval Office in February that they might meet at Balmoral or Dumfries House Scotland first before the much grander state visit.
But it is understood that there were logistical challenges surrounding an informal visit.
Formal planning for the official state visit has now begun.
It will mark an unprecedented second state visit by a US president – his last state visit was in 2019.
Donald Trump struck a conciliatory tone towards Nato allies on Wednesday, framing an expected deal on increased defence spending as a “great victory for everyone” at their summit, AFP reports.
“It’s a great victory for everybody, I think, and we will be equalised very shortly, and that’s the way it has to be,” said Trump, as European allies seek to catch up with US spending on defence.
“I’ve been asking them to go up to five percent for a number of years, and they’re going up to five percent… I think that’s going to be very big news,” he said.
Hosting the meeting, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte told reporters that Trump was in an “excellent mood” at the dinner hosted on Tuesday by King Willem-Alexander in his royal palace, and that the US leader appeared inspired by his hosts.
“The day begins in the beautiful Netherlands. The King and Queen are beautiful and spectacular people. Our breakfast meeting was great!” he posted on the Truth Social network.
Entering the meeting, leaders lined up to declare the summit’s planned spending hike as “historic”.
Nato allies say the increase is needed to counter a growing threat from Russia but also to keep Trump engaged, with the US leader long complaining that Europe spends too little on its own defence.
You can follow all the developments in The Hague over at the Guardian’s Europe Live with Jakub Krupa here
Here is a video of Donald Trump comparing the US strikes on Iran to Hiroshima.
We have more from The Hague.
Reuters is reporting that when asked if the United States would strike again if Iran rebuilt its nuclear enrichment programme, Donald Trump said: “Sure.”
‘We made history’: Mamdani celebrates after shocking Cuomo in New York City mayoral primary
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
We start with Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in the New York City mayoral primary.
In a major upset, Andrew Cuomo who had been a recent favourite – conceded after it was clear the 33-year old democratic had built a substantial lead over the more experienced but scandal-scarred former governor.
Mamdani’ appeared to have cleared the first hurdle on the road to become New York’s first Muslim mayor.
In a speech to supporters, Mamdani said: “We made history,” adding: “I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.”
If his win is confirmed, Mamdani will be seen as the frontrunner for the 4 November mayoral election in New York, a city where Democrats normally dominate.
After 93% of votes were counted in the primary’s first round, Mamdani, a state representative, had 43.5% of the vote. Cuomo was on 36.4%.
Cuomo, who was attempting a political comeback after he resigned from office in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal, said he had called Mamdani to congratulate him.
“He put together a great campaign and he touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out and vote,” Cuomo said. “I applaud him sincerely for his effort.”
However, Cuomo told the New York Times he may still run in the November mayoral election as an independent. “I want to analyse and talk to some colleagues,” he said.
In other developments:
-
Donald Trump hit back at a leaked preliminary US intelligence assessment which cast doubt on the success of US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites. Trump said Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back “decades” by the strikes despite the reports suggesting they had only set it back by months. Ahead of meeting with other world leaders at a Nato Summit in the Hague, he said he believed “total obliteration” was achieved. “This was a devastating attack,” Trump told reporters. Asked about the intelligence reports, Trump said “they really don’t know.” He added: “The intelligence was very inconclusive. The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests.”
-
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, called the leak “treasonous” and called for the individual responsible to be investigated
-
Meanwhile Nato secretary general Mark Rutte was full of praise for the US strikes, saying they “took out the nuclear capability of Iran”, he added that it been carried out in an “impressive way”.
-
As mentioned, Trump is at The Hague where leaders of the Western defensive alliance have gathered. They are set to commit to a new defence spending target of 5% of GDP and demonstrate that European allies are stepping up. This is Trump’s first Nato summit since 2019.
-
At The Hague, Trump confirmed commitment to Nato’s Article 5 which states that an attack on one member is seen as attack on all members. When asked about Article 5 he said: “We are with them all the way.” It was in contrast to earlier comments he made en route to The Hague. “There’s numerous definitions of Article Five, you know that right?” he had said.
-
Speaking at The Hague, Trump likened the US strikes on Iran to his country’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in the second world war. “That hit ended the war,” he said. “That hit ended the war. I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing that ended that war. This ended that, this ended that war. If we didn’t take that out, they would have been they’d be fighting right now.”