Woke NYC mayor humiliated by NYPD after suggesting his 'private' wife should have taxpayer-funded police bodyguards for trip to Syria

Published: 03:14, 12 August 2026 | Updated: 03:15, 12 August 2026 The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has denied their mayor's claims that his wife will be getting a special police escort for her upcoming trip to Syria. Zohran Mamdani had insisted that officers recommended that his wife Rama Duwaji be accompanied by taxpayer-funded police bodyguards for the journey. Duwaji, 29, is planning to visit Syria and Lebanon next month despite the US State Department warning against travel to either country. And in a humiliating turn of events the NYPD has undercut Mamdani's claims that his private-citizen wife would receive the special escort. 'The NYPD does not send officers to countries with Level 4 travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,' an NYPD spokesperson told the New York Post. 'This is not an investigative trip, and therefore NYPD personnel will not be traveling there for it.' The city's first lady, who is Syrian-American, is planning to visit family, the mayor's office confirmed in a statement earlier this week. A source familiar with the arrangement told the Post Duwaji requested security while on her travels and the mayor's office then issued statement announcing the police escort. Rama Duwaji, wife of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, will jet off to Syria and Lebanon next month without taxpayer funded security detail after the NYPD shut down the mayors alleged request (Duwaji pictured at a fashion in New York City in February) The 29-year-old is traveling to visit family, and is stopping in Syria and Lebanon despite US State Department warning against travel to either country (Mamdani and Duwaji pictured smiling after his inauguration) The statement said: 'Upon the strong recommendation of the NYPD, the First Lady's security detail will be joining her when she travels to visit family in Syria and Lebanon.' However, after the NYPD's embarrassing rejection, Mamdani has since backpedaled, placing the blame on a miscommunication by one of his staffers. 'There was a miscommunication. She has not yet taken that trip, and when she takes that trip it will be without any NYPD detail,' Mamdani told PIX11. The controversy comes after Mamdani previously insisted that his wife was above public scrutiny as she is a 'private citizen.'  The mayor made the comments after Duwaji was slammed for apparently liking a celebratory Instagram post the day after the October 7 attacks.  Jewish Insider first reported the posts, which appeared to show that she had liked an image celebrating the Hamas attack. The post, made by left-wing group The Slow Factory, included images of groups of people posing after seizing an Israel Defense Forces vehicle, with 'Free Palestine' scrawled across it. Another image read: 'Breaking the walls of apartheid and military occupation,' followed by the date. It comes after Duwaji left the country over the Fourth of July weekend while the rest of the US celebrated America's 250th birthday  'The NYPD does not send officers to countries with Level 4 travel advisories for discretionary reasons not linked to investigative work,' an NYPD spokesperson told the New York Post The image showed a bulldozer used to breach the border into Israel on the day nearly 1,200 people were killed. When questioned by a reporter about the posts, Mayor Mamdani said: 'My wife is the love of my life, and she is also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall.' Despite Mamdani's insistence, Duwaji has recently posed for a cover feature in The Cut, the flagship style and culture magazine published by New York magazine. Duwaji's upcoming trip is her latest jaunt and comes after she left the country over the Fourth of July weekend while the rest of the US celebrated Independence Day. Duwaji was spotted departing Newark, New Jersey, with the Post reporting that she spent July 4 at an Islamic 'spiritual wellness' retreat in Spain. The six-day event, dubbed 'Plants of the Quran,' cost attendees $3,400 to take part in. She also co-hosted a sold-out spiritual retreat on the French island of Corsica after her trip to Spain. The event, titled 'Mary in the Quran,' examined the life and legacy of Mary, the most honored woman in the Quran. The Daily Mail has contacted Mamdani's office and the NYPD for comment.