NEW YORK ‒ Zohran Mamdani dared President Donald Trump to keep going after him in a combative speech after his Nov. 4 New York City mayoral election victory.

Mamdani, the subject of months of attacks from the president, called Trump out by name as the democratic socialist hailed a “mandate for change” with his victory.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani, 34, said. “And if there is any way to defeat a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.”

He added: “This is not only how we stop Trump ‒ it’s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”

The crowd at the Brooklyn Paramount, where Mamdani supporters gathered for evening, erupted in applause.

As Mamdani predicted, Trump appeared to be watching. "…AND SO IT BEGINS!" Trump wrote on Truth Social during the speech.

Trump, who has mocked Mamdani as a “communist” and a “nut job,” has warned repeatedly that he may withhold federal funds from New York City under a Mamdani mayorship.

Those threats didn't stop Mamdani, a state assemblyman, from targeting the president during his first speech as the mayor-elect.

Mamdani vowed his administration, which begins Jan. 1 will hold landlords accountable because “the Donald Trumps in our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of our tenants.”

“We will stand alongside unions and expand labor protections because we know – just as Donald Trump does – that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to extort them become very small indeed,” he said.

Then, drawing perhaps the loudest roar of all, Mamdani said: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.

“So, hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

Mamdani kicked off his victory speech quoting Eugene Debs, the founder of the Socialist Party a century ago. He then touted toppling a “political dynasty” with the defeat of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who finished second behind Mamdani.

“You have delivered a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” Mamdani said.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Turn the volume up!' Mamdani delivers a 4-word message to Trump in victory speech.

Reporting by Joey Garrison and Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect