Trump says NYC is 'like a ghost town,' says son would not get elected mayor

President Trump lamented the current state of New York City, which was ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year and has seen a surge in violent crime, while admitting that his son Donald Jr. would fail if he ran for mayor in next year's election.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on Thursday morning, Trump blamed Democratic leadership for the city's woes and predicted that the immediate future would be more of the same.

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"It's a shame what's happened to New York, it's like a ghost town," Trump said.

Later in the interview, Trump again spoke of the New York City's woes, saying that what is going on there "is one of the saddest things I've ever seen happen to a city," and it is because of who is in charge.

"It's all Democrat-run cities," Trump continued. "The only way it's going to come back is you're going to have to find a young version of Rudy Giuliani. Otherwise, it's not because they have all these lefties in New York running for office and they use their criminal system."

Giuliani has often been credited for helping to make New York City safer in the mid-1990s, bringing it out of a down period that took place under Democratic leadership.

Despite claiming that a Giuliani-type mayor is needed, Trump does not expect to see one any time soon because he does not believe a Republican could get elected there now -- not even his own son.

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When asked if his son might run for mayor of the city in next year's election, Trump was not on board with the idea.

"No, I hope not," he said. "Because he couldn't win as a Republican ... he wouldn't have a chance."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has even recently criticized the current state of the city under the leadership of fellow Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio.

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"The crime problem in New York City is real. Denial is not an option," Cuomo said at a Sept. 29 press conference, adding that "if jurisdictions don't resolve police/community issues and redesign public safety," he would take away the city's funding allotted to help with recovery efforts due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cuomo also slammed the city for not doing more to ensure cleanliness and reign in homelessness, hinting that he may take action if city leadership does not.

"I don't know what's going on in New York City. If they can't do it, I've offered to send the National Guard in to come pick up the garbage," Cuomo said. "This is a public health pandemic. Cleanliness matters."

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Fox News' Vandana Rambaran contributed to this report.