Washington — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday that Democratic governors won’t “sit idly by” as President Trump threatens to retaliate if state leaders don’t comply with his agenda.
“Don’t think that you can just come in and bully us around and not expect a reaction from governors,” Hochul said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
When governors from both sides of the aisle met with Mr. Trump at a White House event Friday, the president called out Maine Gov. Janet Mills, saying that her state wouldn’t get federal funding if it doesn’t comply with an executive order barring transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams. Mills replied, “See you in court.”
Hochul said Mr. Trump and his administration are “flooding the zone,” citing disputes over FEMA recovery funds in California, lawsuits in Illinois and the confrontation with Mills.
“What they’re trying to do is create this theater of all kinds of activity that is trying to be a distraction to us,” Hochul said. “And when someone floods the zone in a football game, what you need to have is the defenders be very disciplined, smart, but also stand their ground.”
Hochul also met privately with Mr. Trump at the White House on Friday, a meeting that took place days after his administration revoked federal approval for congestion pricing in New York City.
The Trump administration said last week that it would pull the approval of New York City’s congestion pricing, which requires drivers entering lower Manhattan and Midtown to pay $9 tolls if they enter the areas during peak hours. Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD,” claiming to have saved New York while he declared “LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Hochul has pledged to push back on the move, touting the program that has been in effect since January and announcing that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had initiated legal proceedings. Hochul said Sunday that she expects the state will be victorious in the courts and that the program will continue, while also expressing opposition to the president’s suggestion that he is a king.
“I have a problem with that characterization, because we labored under a king 250 years ago, and as I said, we’re not going back there,” Hochul said.
Hochul’s meeting with the president also came after federal prosecutors in New York filed a motion to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Amid the controversy, Hochul said in recent days that she wouldn’t remove Adams from office. She said Sunday that she didn’t discuss the issue during her meeting with the president, though she noted that “we are not allowing the Trump administration to interfere in the operations of our city.”
“I know there’s a lot of people disappointed and angry and want something done immediately, but I will always stand on the fact that we are a nation of laws, and one individual, the governor of New York, should not use her voice and her will to override the will of the voters,” Hochul added.
Hochul pledged that with the way the Trump administration has “telegraphed that they want to get into our operations,” she must be the “firewall to stop that.”
