US President Donald Trump threatened Friday to withhold billions of dollars in federal funding to New York City unless officials address the omission of Little Italy from a city map of immigrant neighborhoods.

“New York City officials recently released a map showing ethnic communities in our nation’s largest city, and their map includes Little Senegal, Little Guyana, Little Haiti, Little Yemen, but it does not include a place called Little Italy, an unthinkable omission for New York City,” Trump said at a Columbus Day celebration at the White House.

“I think it’s a disgrace,” he said.

“We are going to work on that immediately, or we’re not going to be sending them any of the billions and billions of dollars that they want to waste all the time,” he added.

“Those who hate our country want to see the Italian American community erased,” Trump said.

The map, released as part of a tourism guide ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, highlighted 30 immigrant neighborhoods across New York City's five boroughs.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in July that the city would add Little Italy to the map, and make further changes to reflect the city's diverse communities.

Mamdani said the map was created in 2023 and was not intended to be an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic communities in the city. (AA)