Trump’s threats to revoke Elon Musk and Zohran Mamdani citizenships spark political outrage and legal scrutiny

Department of Research, Studies and International News 03-07-2025

In a move drawing sharp criticism and international concern, former U.S. President Donald Trump has recently suggested the possibility of revoking the citizenship of two prominent figures, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and billionaire businessman Elon Musk. These threats, seen by many as politically motivated, have reignited a long-dormant debate about the power of the U.S. government to strip naturalised individuals of their citizenship, a tactic historically used during America’s most paranoid and ideologically charged periods.

Targeting critics under the guise of patriotism

Zohran Mamdani, a Ugandan-born New York politician of Indian heritage, has become a vocal critic of U.S. immigration enforcement and foreign policy, particularly its support for Israeli aggression and its heavy-handed domestic surveillance. Having moved to the U.S. as a child, Mamdani became a naturalised citizen in 2018. Despite this, Republican lawmaker Andy Ogles has demanded a Justice Department probe into Mamdani’s citizenship status, accusing him of supporting terrorism, a charge based on public expressions of solidarity with Palestinians and a 2014 lyric referencing the “Holy Land Five,” a group controversially convicted of sending aid to Gaza.

Trump, responding to Mamdani’s opposition to ICE deportation raids in New York, ominously stated that if Mamdani blocked federal operations, “we’ll have to arrest him.” The language employed by Trump and Ogles, branding Mamdani a “communist” and questioning his loyalty, evokes the xenophobic rhetoric of America’s Cold War-era Red Scares, when political dissidents were routinely denaturalised and deported.

Mamdani has condemned Trump’s threats, stating that he is being targeted not for breaking any laws, but for opposing the weaponization of immigration policy against vulnerable communities. He further criticised the current Democratic New York Mayor Eric Adams for aligning himself with Trump on immigration policy, highlighting the bipartisan erosion of civil liberties in the U.S.

Musk in the crosshairs over financial fallout

Elon Musk, the South African-born tech magnate behind Tesla and SpaceX, has also found himself in Trump’s line of fire. Despite previously serving as a close advisor and campaign donor to Trump, Musk’s opposition to Trump’s recently passed finance bill, dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill”, has triggered a bitter fallout. The bill eliminates significant tax incentives for electric vehicle buyers, threatening to undercut Musk’s business empire.

Trump responded with characteristic spite, suggesting Musk might need to “head back home to South Africa” if subsidies dry up. He also joked that the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), which Musk formerly led, might investigate him, remarks widely interpreted as both retaliatory and unserious, yet legally troubling if acted upon.

Though Musk’s immigration history has drawn minor controversy, particularly regarding whether he had proper work authorization in the 1990s, there is no substantiated evidence of fraud that would justify revoking his citizenship, which he obtained in 2002.

Can the U.S. actually revoke citizenship?

While naturalised citizens can theoretically lose their status through “denaturalisation,” the legal threshold is high and rarely met. The U.S. Justice Department clarified in a June memo that it would only pursue such action in cases of fraud, willful misrepresentation, or severe criminal conduct such as terrorism or war crimes. Routine political speech, dissent, or even controversial affiliations do not meet this bar under current law.

Experts overwhelmingly view the Trump administration’s recent threats as bluster rather than enforceable policy. “Denaturalisation is extremely rare and would require solid evidence of fraud at the time of naturalisation,” said legal scholar Michael Kagan. “This is political theatre aimed at silencing critics.”

Historically, the U.S. used denaturalisation against communists and others during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. However, this practice was severely limited after a landmark 1967 Supreme Court ruling, which held that citizens could not be stripped of their nationality involuntarily unless it was proven they had obtained it fraudulently.

A chilling signal to political dissidents

Trump’s remarks, delivered with characteristic bravado but underpinned by real legal probes, serve as a stark reminder of how citizenship in the U.S., especially for naturalised individuals, can be politicised. In the current climate, where anti-immigrant rhetoric and support for colonial regimes like Israel are foundational to American political discourse, dissenters such as Mamdani and even formerly favoured insiders like Musk are vulnerable to state intimidation.

The authoritarian undertones of these developments have not gone unnoticed globally. Countries like China, Russia, and Iran, long accused by the West of repressing opposition, have pointed out the U.S.’s glaring hypocrisy in targeting its own political dissenters under the guise of national security.

As November elections approach, this episode underscores the deepening crisis within American democracy, a system that, while preaching freedom abroad, increasingly reveals its fragility and intolerance at home.