Hochul, AG James pledge to protect New Yorkers’ rights after Trump win

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday said she would work with President-elect Donald Trump to advance critical projects, but also pledged to “fight” any attempts to curb New Yorkers’ rights.

Speaking in Manhattan alongside New York state Attorney General Letitia James, the governor called on the incoming president to restore the federal deduction for state and local tax payments and back a number of state improvement efforts. 

“President-elect Trump needs to repeal his elimination of the state and local tax deduction. He also needs to support our ongoing efforts to support our transit, support the Gateway Tunnel, Second Avenue subway, and fund major critical infrastructure, particularly the MTA,” Hochul said. “And also to back our critical economic development projects, such as those funded by the CHIPS and Science Act, which is intended to bring manufacturing back home from China and South Asia and create thousands of jobs in our state, as is occurring with Micron.” 

“And I’ll work with him or anybody regardless of party on these kinds of efforts that I know will benefit the state of New York,” she added. “However, if you try to harm New Yorkers or roll back their rights, I will fight you every step of the way.” 

James, meanwhile, congratulated Trump, but also vowed to “protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law.”

“If possible, we will work with his administration, but we will not compromise our values or our integrity, our principles,” she said. “We did not expect this result, but we are prepared to respond to this result, and my office has been preparing for several months, because we’ve been here before, we’ve faced this challenge before, and we use the rule of law to fight back.”

Between 2019 and 2021, James said her office took “nearly 100 legal actions” against the previous Trump administration, including fights over the cap on SALT deductions, immigration policy and LGBTQ+ rights. 

“We will continue to protect our most vulnerable and marginalized amongst us, because it is my sworn duty and responsibility to lead that fight, working with the governor of this great state, Kathy Hochul,” she said. “This is not the time to be fearful, New York, but faithful and steadfast.”