Boston Mayor Michelle Wu throws down gauntlet vs. Trump after her victory

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu wins her re-election.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu's sends a message of defiance against Donald Trump as she celebrates her victory Tuesday.

There was no suspense when the polls closed. Wu, the first Asian American mayor ran unopposed after trouncing her only challenger in the primaries and her popularity soared when she challenged Trump's immigration policies.

The national profile of 40-year old Wu and mother of three rose in the last six months as Boston grappled with Donald Trump's policies descended on the city and the nation.

Wu has a contentious relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), characterized by her efforts to obtain more information about ICE arrests in Boston, her public criticism of their tactics, and her administration's policies that are considered a form of "sanctuary city" policy.

This has led to backlash from the Trump administration, which has accused her of obstructing federal immigration laws.Trump's Department of Justice sued Wu, the City of Boston and the Boston Police Department for their sanctuary city policies.

“Unlike the Trump administration, Boston follows the law – city, state and federal,” Wu said in a statement. “We are the safest major city in the country because all of our community members know that they are part of how we keep the entire community safe. Stop attacking cities to hide your administration’s failures.”

For her resistance and the city's "sanctuary city" policies, Trump has threatened to send the National Guard to Boston, which he describes as a crime-ridden city.

Despite Trump's claims of Boston's heavy crime across the city the city has seen decreases in crime in recent years. In 2024, Boston broke the record for lowest number of homicides in the city since 1957, according to a press conference.

“On behalf of the people of Boston, and in solidarity with communities targeted by the Trump administration for our refusal to bow down to unlawful threats, we affirm our support for each other and for our democracy,” said Wu in a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Boston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom and a home for everyone.”

In her victory speech Tuesday night, Wu said: "You'd think, at some point, they'd learn: Boston doesn't back down." 

"That is what this election was about here in Boston," she said. "Not just how we lead, but what we believe. Whether we believe that wealth should buy power—We don't. Whether experience matters—It does. And most of all, whether we will bow to a criminal who acts like a king."

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