President Trump threw his full backing behind Republican Saritha Komatireddy in the New York attorney general race, escalating his long-running feud with incumbent Letitia James after an appeals court already dismantled the centerpiece of her civil fraud case against him.
Trump issued what he called his "complete and total endorsement" of Komatireddy in a Truth Social post Friday, calling James the worst attorney general in the country and casting the race as a referendum on law and order in a state he says is hemorrhaging residents and businesses. Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, former Drug Enforcement Administration chief of staff, and onetime Trump judicial nominee, accepted the endorsement the same day and pledged to defeat James in November.
The endorsement lands at a moment when James' signature legal achievement against Trump has largely collapsed. An appeals court wiped out the nearly $465 million financial penalty a lower court had imposed on Trump and the Trump Organization, ruling the massive disgorgement award violated the Constitution's ban on excessive fines. Trump, meanwhile, continues pressing for James herself to face prosecution over mortgage fraud allegations, a case that saw a Virginia grand jury indict her in October on charges related to misrepresenting a property's use to secure favorable mortgage rates, though that case was later dropped with the Department of Justice seeking a new indictment.
Komatireddy brings credentials that read like a law-and-order résumé built for this moment. She served as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York, where she prosecuted drug cartels, al-Qaeda operatives, and ISIS members. In 2022, she secured a life sentence against ISIS terrorist Mirsad Kandic in a landmark case. She later served as the DEA's chief of staff and clerked for Brett Kavanaugh before his appointment to the Supreme Court. Trump nominated her to the federal bench in 2020.
In her response posted on X, Komatireddy framed the race as bigger than any single endorsement:
"I was honored to be nominated to be a federal judge by the President in 2020 and I'm honored to receive his endorsement today. I'm working hard to win the support of all New Yorkers and defeat Letitia James this November."
She is now the sole Republican in the race after Michael Henry dropped out of the GOP primary in January, leaving her to face attorney Khurram Dara for the Republican nomination ahead of a June 23 primary. She has already locked up endorsements from the New York Republican State Committee and the Republican Attorneys General Association.
RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper, as Breitbart reported, called her "the type of candidate most committees dream of having run."
Trump's endorsement post did not hold back about why he wants James gone. He accused her of abandoning public safety to pursue political vendettas.
"She then went back to her WITCH HUNT against your favorite President, (ME!), and others, yet Murder and other Violent Crime is RAGING OUT OF CONTROL in New York, as People and Businesses flee, in Record Numbers, to other States!"
The crime numbers back up at least part of that argument. Total index crime in New York City rose 45 percent from 2019 through 2024, a period that overlaps almost entirely with James' time as attorney general. Statewide, crime climbed 26 percent during her tenure since 2019, and more than a million people left the state over that span.
Komatireddy has hammered this point throughout her campaign. She told the Washington Free Beacon that James "uses the office to go after her political enemies and for her own political promotion, and that does not serve New Yorkers." In a separate interview, she put it more bluntly:
"She has abused the powers of that office, used it for the wrong reasons, and people are tired of it. They want good government in New York."
James' campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Trump is not the only prominent Republican lining up behind Komatireddy. Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, one of the party's key suburban voices, has also endorsed her. Lawler framed the race in stark terms, as the Washington Examiner reported:
"New York deserves an Attorney General who enforces the law, not one who abuses it. Tish James has turned the Attorney General's office into a partisan weapon and is the most corrupt AG in America. Saritha Komatireddy will restore the trust we need in our judicial system."
Lawler called Komatireddy "a principled, tough, and fearless advocate for the rule of law who will restore integrity, accountability, and equal justice to the office."
Komatireddy is also betting that the political landscape in New York has shifted enough to give a Republican a real shot at a statewide office that Democrats have held for years. She points to the election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as New York City's mayor-elect, and his controversial transition team picks, as evidence that the state's leftward drift has created a backlash.
"Mamdani's election is what makes this an opportunity for a Republican to win as attorney general," she told the Free Beacon. She has also campaigned on holding colleges accountable for anti-Jewish harassment and has floated the possibility of state oversight of the NYPD under Mamdani's incoming administration.
Trump's endorsement post laid out the policy contrast he wants voters to see. He said Komatireddy would "fight tirelessly to Ensure LAW AND ORDER, Grow our Economy, Champion our Law Enforcement and First Responders, Support our Military/Veterans, Advance Election Integrity, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Uphold our Constitution, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment."
Trump also took a shot at James' failed attempt to run for governor against Kathy Hochul, claiming she "got less than 1% of the Vote in the Polls, and QUIT, taking many innocent suckers down with her." James ultimately dropped that bid and returned to the attorney general's office, where she refocused on the civil fraud case against Trump, the same case an appeals court later gutted.
The race now presents New York voters with a clear choice: an incumbent who staked her tenure on high-profile political litigation that largely fell apart in court, or a prosecutor whose career was built putting terrorists and cartel operatives behind bars. For a state watching crime climb and residents leave, that contrast may matter more than any endorsement.
