News blog about US politics
New New York mayor counters Musk
Updated 12/28/2025 – 10:41 amReading time: 42 minutes
A heavy snowstorm is raging on the east coast. New York’s new mayor refutes an accusation from Elon Musk. All developments in the news blog.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has rejected Elon Musk’s allegations that his choice to lead the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) was questionable due to a lack of experience. “Experience does play a role, which is why I appointed someone who has worked in the emergency services for more than 30 years. You know, the people who handle at least 70 percent of all emergency calls in the FDNY?” wrote Mamdani in a post on the social platform X. Mamdani had selected Lillian Bonsignor, who will be the first openly lesbian chief of the fire department.
His comments came in response to an earlier post by Musk in which he claimed that people would “die” because of the appointment of Lillian Bonsignore, a veteran emergency services chief.
Hundreds of flights have been canceled in the east coast metropolis of New York and the surrounding region due to a winter storm with massive snowfall. The Flightaware portal, which tracks flights in US airspace, reported 796 canceled flights nationwide on Saturday (local time) – on Friday there were even 1,710. The severe winter weather hit the region on the weekend after Christmas, when a particularly large number of Americans usually travel.
The National Weather Service expected up to 17 centimeters of new snow for New York, with even heavier snowfalls possible locally. However, most of the snow has now fallen. A winter storm warning was officially in effect for the region until 1 p.m. (7 p.m. CET) on Saturday. In some cases freezing water was also to be expected. The city government urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel and to stay at home if possible. The New York Times newspaper called it the snowiest winter storm in three years.
video | Record snowfall in New York
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In a post on his Truth Social network, US President Donald Trump complained about the extra work the Epstein files were doing for the judicial authorities. “When do they say ‘It’s enough and work on voter fraud and so on,'” the president wrote. He claimed again that the Democrats colluded with Epstein without providing any further evidence. “Publish the names, make it embarrassing for them and then go back to work to help our country,” he wrote, apparently addressed to the Justice Department.
