The White House removed a social media post featuring the New York Knicks logo that appeared to mock New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after the NBA team reached out to President Trump’s administration.

The altered logo was posted on official White House social media channels Tuesday night, declaring “Trump is your President.” The Knicks then reached out to the White House, which voluntarily removed the logo, according to a source close to the team.

The source said the franchise will always protect its intellectual property and stay apolitical.

“The Knicks remain neutral on political matters,” a team spokesperson said. “We hope all our elected officials, whether current or recently elected, do a great job in office.”

The Knicks reached out to the White House after it used their logo to mock NYC’s mayor-elect — the post was later deleted, per @FOS pic.twitter.com/6Oy9U0sFfF

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 5, 2025

The Athletic reached out via email to the White House for comment, but received an automated response that said: “Staff are still furloughed due to Democrats in Congress shutting down the Federal Government. We sincerely apologize for being unable to promptly reply to your important message.”

This was the second time the Knicks objected to their logo being altered and used without their permission during the run-up to the New York mayoral election. Two weeks ago, the Mamdani campaign aired an ad featuring an altered Knicks logo. The spot, broadcast during the team’s season opener, showed a game of pickup basketball before ending with a mock logo reading “New York Zohran.”

The ad presented the impression that the franchise endorsed Mamdani, which it did not, according to a source close to the team. After the Mamdani campaign did not respond to the Knicks’ request to take the ad down, the team sent the mayoral-elect a cease and desist letter, according to the source.

Knicks owner James Dolan is fierce in protecting his teams’ intellectual property. Last year, the Knicks, New York Rangers and MSG Sports sued anonymous vendors selling bootleg merchandise outside of Madison Square Garden, according to Front Office Sports. A judge later issued a temporary restraining order outside the stadium.

Dolan did not endorse a candidate in this year’s mayoral election. Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa and Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent in Tuesday’s election after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary.