Kathy Hochul's New York passed a law blocking police from cooperating with ICE.
Now she's standing next to a socialist mayor while attacking Donald Trump.
And Kathy Hochul stunned Donald Trump with this shocking accusation about defunding the police.
The Press Conference That Blew Up in Real Time
Hochul and Zohran Mamdani held a joint press conference Tuesday in Midtown Manhattan to accuse Donald Trump of defunding law enforcement.
Their claim: Trump promised to restore $187 million in Homeland Security Grant Program counterterrorism funding cut from New York in 2025 – delivered $100 million after a court order – and still owes $87 million with the 25th anniversary of 9/11 eleven days away.
Mamdani said the shortfall would mean fewer bomb squads on New York streets, FDNY communications that go dark in a mass casualty event, and first responders without the training or equipment to handle a radiological attack.
Hochul called it a betrayal of every family that lost someone on 9/11.
The Department of Homeland Security answered before the press conference ended.
https://twitter.com/MichaelARothman/status/2094906559222677602?s=20
FEMA accused Hochul of "manufacturing a funding crisis" – then released the number that dismantled the entire event.
New York is sitting on more than $300 million in unspent federal homeland security funding.
Three hundred million dollars. Already allocated. Already transferred. Not spent.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin was also in New York City on Tuesday – not at Hochul's event, but across town touting Operation Rotten Apple: more than 2,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants, including people convicted of violent crimes.
The same state that blocks ICE cooperation by law spent the afternoon demanding the federal government write it a check.
New York Wants the Money Without Doing the Work
The Homeland Security Grant Program was created by Congress after 9/11 to fund state and local counterterrorism operations.
For more than two decades, New York pulled in its full allocation – and then some, receiving amounts FEMA says were "significantly above risk-based formulas."
In 2025, DHS cut New York's grant by $187 million.
New York sued.
Hochul appealed directly to Trump.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/2094797282474422579?s=20
Trump posted on Truth Social in October 2025 that he had personally reversed the cuts.
DHS restored $100 million.
The remaining $87 million stayed frozen.
Hochul's office says the $300 million "unspent" figure is misleading – federal grants are structured to be drawn down over three years, not spent immediately upon arrival.
FEMA's response: New York traditionally received above-formula allocations for years, is already slated to receive more than $200 million for fiscal year 2026 – including additional funding tied to hosting FIFA World Cup matches – and has more than enough to work with.
New York's argument is that it needs every dollar promised.
Washington's argument is that New York hasn't spent the dollars already provided.
Both cannot simultaneously be true.
The Question Hochul Has Never Answered
There's a bigger problem underneath the dollar dispute.
New York's state law limits local law enforcement's cooperation with ICE – the same federal agency Mullin credited Tuesday for making New York safer.
The state's position is that it can restrict federal immigration enforcement and simultaneously demand maximum federal funding for homeland security.
Trump's answer – executed by Mullin two miles from Hochul's press conference – was Operation Rotten Apple, which arrested people convicted of violent crimes that New York's sanctuary law kept beyond local law enforcement's reach.
Hochul pushed back, claiming most of those arrested had no criminal history and that the Trump administration "considers anybody who crossed the border a criminal."
That's an argument about deportation policy – not about whether a state that limits federal law enforcement has earned the right to demand federal money.
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2094501387090456638?s=20
In 2017, Trump's first term tried to strip sanctuary cities of federal funding entirely.
Courts blocked it.
In 2026, the administration found a different pressure point – not punishing New York for its sanctuary law, but asking a simpler question: why does a state with $300 million in unspent security money need another $87 million before spending what it already has?
Hochul and Mamdani spent Tuesday invoking 9/11 families to demand a check.
Mullin spent Tuesday making the arrests those families would actually want made.
One side held a press conference about counterterrorism.
The other side did it.
Sources:
- Joe Anuta, "Mamdani, Hochul accuse Trump of defunding the police," Politico, September 1, 2026.
- Washington Examiner Staff, "Hochul demands Trump restore $87 million in New York grants," Washington Examiner, September 1, 2026.
- Garbarino press office, "Garbarino Highlights Restoration of New York Counterterrorism Funding at Homeland Security Hearing," December 15, 2025.
- Epoch Times Staff, "Hochul, Mamdani Urge DHS to Disburse $87 Million in Counterterrorism Funding for NY," The Epoch Times, September 1, 2026.
- CBS New York Staff, "Gov. Hochul demands Trump administration restore $87 million in counterterrorism funding to New York," CBS New York, September 1, 2026.
