The claws are out.

GOP mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa revealed Monday he hasn’t spoken to President Trump in roughly 20 years — as insiders note the pair’s longstanding rift could imperil any push for the cat lover to drop his mayoral bid.

Sliwa, during a wide-ranging interview with The Post, attributed his current frosty relations with the nation’s top Republican to zingers he made on TV or during his long stint as a radio talk show host on WABC-AM and other outlets.

“Every week for 13 years I was on NY1 and would do political satire,” he said. “We talked Cuomo, Trump, (Bill) de Blasio, Christine Quinn, (Anthony) Weiner, (David) Paterson. Whoever was in the news.

“I think a lot of those people, including Trump, didn’t appreciate, my sense of satire and humor from time to time.”

The last time he talked with Trump was when his fellow flamboyant New Yorker appeared as a guest on one of his radio shows, Sliwa said.

“It was about July 22nd, 2004,” Sliwa said. “John Gotti Jr. had just been indicted for my kidnapping and attempted murder that had taken place on June 19, 1992, 12 years later.”

The red-bereted Guardian Angels founder’s insight into his self-described “love-hate relationship” with Trump came as the president stages an unprecedented interjection into the mayoral race in an apparent bid to thwart socialist frontrunner Zohran Mamdani’s election.

Trump has given an unenforceable deadline of this week for long-shot candidates to drop out and clear the lane for the best anti-Mamdani contender, potentially with the enticement of a plum administration gig for Mayor Eric Adams, who is polling in fourth place.

Trump has made clear he views former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the candidate with the best chance of besting Mamdani one-on-one, rather than backing Sliwa, New York Republicans’ standard bearer.

One source close to Trump’s administration said a job offer had been originally floated to Sliwa, but he refused “because he’s insane.” Sliwa denied any contact with the White House.

“Curtis doesn’t like Trump. Trump doesn’t like Curtis. Trump wants nothing to do with him,” another source, who is close to both New Yorkers, said.

While the pair now has no relationship, Sliwa said their paths had crossed several times over the decades.

He said he met Trump personally for the first time in 1986, when they were both honored at the New York State Conservative Party gala.

“I said, ‘Don. You’re not a conservative.’ He said, ‘You’re not a conservative,’” Sliwa recalled.

The colorful combo continued to find common ground over the years, with Trump appreciating the outspoken public safety activist’s praise for the real estate mogul helping to save the city’s Veterans Day Parade, Sliwa said.

As Trump transitioned from businessman and reality star to politician, he ended up facing more and more of Sliwa’s ire.

During 2015, Sliwa demanded that Trump apologize for allegedly doctoring an interview to support his false assertion that Muslims in New Jersey celebrated 9/11.

Sliwa even invited Trump to participate in a “hummus summit” at a Paterson restaurant to hash things out.

But the then-rising GOP star was a no-show, according to a 2015 Herald News report — in which Sliwa also said the pair’s relationship had soured when he criticized Trump’s various bankruptcies.

When Trump was in his first White House term, Sliwa publicly called the president a “manic depressive.”

“I didn’t support Trump,” he told Newsmax in 2016. “I view him as a crack, a screwball, but this is what we got.”

A source close to Sliwa cast it as a divide between two “entertainers” in the public spotlight, sometimes on opposing sides of issues.

“There’s no real animosity, but they’ve had a love-hate relationship,” the source said. “They have disagreed on a number of local issues.”

Sliwa on Monday gave mixed signals on an endorsement from Trump, suggesting it could hurt more than help his candidacy.

“Trump should stay out of the election. Period,” he said. “It’s just charging up Zohran Mamdani.”      

But Sliwa also said, “If he were to endorse me, that’s fine.”

— Additional reporting by Diana Nerozzi

Read the full article here

Share.
Leave A Reply

2025 © Prices.com LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Exit mobile version