Trump, Mamdani slated to cheer on Knicks during finals game in New York
In this Nov. 21, 2025, file photo, President Donald Trump meets with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Madison Square Garden is set to be filled to the brim Monday night with passionate Knicks fans decked out in their orange and blue pride, but eyes may be on what two of the most powerful New Yorkers will be doing during Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
President Donald Trump and Mayor Zohran Mamdani have said they will be attending the game and cheering on the Knicks as they seek another win in the best-of-seven series.
Trump, who has sat courtside at many Knicks games before being elected president, said he was personally invited by Jim Dolan, the team’s owner and longtime friend of the president.
“They’re really great, a great team. I’m happy for Jim because Jim has really been fighting hard to produce such a team,” Trump told reporters Thursday.
It’s highly unlikely that if Trump attends, he will be sitting courtside due to security concerns, and it’s not known who he will be seated with.
The president isn’t expected to be the only major elected official in the “World’s Most Famous Arena” during tip-off, as Mamdani revealed Thursday he will be attending the game.
“I’m paying for my own ticket,” the mayor said in an interview with radio station 1010 Wins Friday.
Trump and Mamdani have had personal meetings at the White House ever since the Democratic Socialist won the 2025 mayoral election.
However, Mamdani indicated on Thursday that he will be “in a very different section of the stadium” than the president during the game. He has dodged several questions about whether he will meet with Trump during his trip to New York.
“If I do see him, I will let him know what I’ve said time and again, which is we’re excited to welcome anyone and everyone who’s rooting for the Knicks,” Mamdani told 1010 Wins Friday.
The mayor had previously watched the Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on May 21 and was seated high up in the cheaper seats along with city public advocate Jumaane Williams.
Their attendance was unannounced before the game.
Mamdani indicated that once again he would not be in the best seats in the Garden for Monday’s matchup.
“I can tell you that I won’t be courtside or in a suite, but I can’t wait to see the game,” he told the radio station.
Mamdani has been vocally critical of the Trump administration’s policy on immigration, government cuts and threats to cut funding to Democratic run states and cities.
During the election, Trump vocally decried Mamdani, calling him a “communist” and warning that New York would be in a worse place under his leadership.
The president’s tone changed on Nov. 21, when Mamdani met with Trump in the Oval Office and they emerged with a much more amicable relationship.
“I think this mayor could do some things that are going to be really great,” Trump said in a news conference after the meeting, where he smiled, shook Mamdani’s hand and even patted him on the back.
The mayor and president met another time in the winter and Mamdani has said he has spoken to Trump on the phone numerous times about matters to the city.
Mamdani has maintained his opposition to many of the president’s policies but has maintained he is open to working with him to help New Yorkers, especially when it comes to driving down housing costs.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the BlackRock Infrastructure Summit on March 11, 2026, in Washington, DC. The global investment management company held the summit consisting of leaders from government, business, and labor to address expanding U.S. infrastructure. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) — A man has been arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the company said.
No one was hurt, according to the San Francisco Police Department and OpenAI.
The incident unfolded around 4 a.m. Friday when someone “threw an incendiary destructive device” at the house, which sparked a fire on an exterior gate, police said.
The suspect fled on foot, but police said his description was dispatched to officers.
Around 5 a.m., officers responded to OpenAI’s headquarters where a man was allegedly threatening to burn down a building, and they “recognized the male to be the same suspect from the earlier incident,” police said.
The 20-year-old suspect was arrested and charges are pending, police said.
The company said the situation is under control and there is no immediate threat to its offices.
“We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe,” OpenAI said in a statement. “We’re assisting law enforcement with their investigation.”
The SFPD’s Special Investigations and Arson Units are leading the investigation, the company said. The FBI said it’s aware of the incident and is working with San Francisco police.
A smartphone screen displays a folder containing AI applications Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Copilot, and DeepSeek. . (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Visual investigation: Scores of online resellers are using AI to fool customers by pretending to be mom-and-pop stores
Scores of online companies are increasingly turning to generative AI technology to deceive consumers, falsely portraying themselves as struggling small businesses to charge a premium for lower quality products, an ABC News visual investigation found.
ABC News has identified dozens of similar online retailers — selling everything from clothing to jewelry to lamps — that used AI images and videos to portray themselves as down-on-their-luck craftsmen or small business owners in need of support.
These kinds of sites have proliferated online and take advantage of consumer trends. Experts warn that by the time others leave reviews or complain about the misleading claims, the sites often go offline or move on to selling another product.
“You can use AI to create very realistic media, right? So you can take and create photos of people who look like someone who might be making handmade goods,” said Marshini Chetty, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Chicago. “You can create reviews at scale. You can create testimonials. And then even when you generate these sites, they already use these kind of manipulative tactics.”
According to Denny Svehla, a musician from Rockford, Illinois, the ad he saw for a retiring craftsman selling flat caps appeared completely normal at first.
“I’ve been making flat caps and newsboy caps by hand since 1973. Closing the workshop next Wednesday and I’ll be honest, I’ve still got way more inventory than I know what to do with — just needs to go,” one slickly produced ad said. “Every cap on that shelf has hours of my work in it — real materials, hand finished, built to outlast the man wearing them. 53 years and not one shortcut.”
For Svehla — a Neil Diamond tribute artist who runs a small business with his wife — the story felt personal, and he wanted to help.
“I get the pressure, so I thought, ‘Man, I am going to buy a cap,'” Svehla told ABC News. “I even gave him a tip.”
According to Svehla, he first became suspicious about the purchase when he got an update showing that the “handmade” hats he bought were being shipped from mainland China. When the hats eventually arrived, he said he was disappointed at their quality and even more annoyed at the deception.
“I’m sitting there thinking I’m trying to help someone,” Svehla said. “He’s going to end up going out of business after 52 years. I’ve been in business for 50 years myself, and I’m looking at, you know, what am I going to do if I can’t go anymore?”
Unbeknownst to Svehla, the website that sold him the hats is one example of a growing trend of sites that use generative AI technology to portray themselves as struggling small businesses. At least three similar sites — George’s Caps, Henry’s Caps, and Walter’s Caps — offered similar pitches to consumers, claiming they are retiring after decades in business and need to offload their inventory.
A representative of George’s Caps, when reached by ABC News, did not address questions regarding whether George is a real person or if claims regarding his retirement are fabricated. They touted the quality of the products they sell, saying, “We are actually well aware that there are some genuinely poor operators in this space. We hear about them directly from our own happy customers who have tried competitors and been disappointed before finding us.” The representative said, “I would also challenge the assumption that foreign made goods are automatically inferior. What matters is the quality standard being maintained and the commitment to the customer.”
Other sites use AI to make emotional appeals. One purportedly New York-based clothing retailer shared an AI-generated image of their damaged storefront — with shattered glass and police tape — to announce their “big sale.”
“Our store has been completely destroyed and after years of love and dedication to our business, we see no other way out. As if we hadn’t fought enough against the big giants with their huge budgets, this has dealt us the final blow,” the ad claimed.
But that store didn’t list an address in New York, and online detection tools suggested the image was made entirely with artificial intelligence.
Another site claimed to be a New York-based lamp company that was closing after two decades in business and now offering customers a massive discount on their remaining inventory.
“It’s not easy to close the doors of something that’s been part of your soul. But the time has come. Aluné, our beloved lamp boutique in New York, is packing up for the very last time,” their post said, showing an image of a middle-aged man and woman laying out their lamps on a sidewalk.
But after weeks online, the site has since been removed, and multiple experts said that the site’s advertising was generated with AI. When ABC News visited their address on one of New York’s priciest streets — between retailers for Chanel and Versace — there was no trace of the company or evidence that it ever existed.
None of these businesses responded to a request for comment from ABC News.
According to Chetty, massive advances in AI technology has made it easier to quickly create convincing sites that can fool even the savviest online shoppers.
“People can do this at scale, create these images, create these websites, put them up quickly, take them down quickly,” she said.
And Chetty noted that those kinds of sites can thrive on social media, where consumers are often distracted and more likely to make a quick purchase. ABC News has identified dozens of videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok where retailers used AI to generate videos showing fake craftspeople making their products. Expert analysis — paired with online detection tools — confirmed they were created with AI technology, and their websites were linked to generic holding companies or companies oversees.
None of the other retailers who were contacted by ABC News responded to a request for comment.
Many of the videos prey on customers’ emotions by showing interactions that try to create sympathy by showing creators being picked on in public.
“This comment says, ‘You’re a 32-year-old man making Mario lamps for kids in your bedroom, let that sink in,'” one video said, mimicking a video format where creators respond to negative comments.
ABC News identified four nearly identical videos, where different middle-aged men — seemingly in the same garage — spoke the same script.
While Chetty said that AI videos like these might have been easier to spot a few years ago, even experts sometimes struggle to identify what’s real from what’s fake.
“Maybe you’re walking down the street in New York, you’re not thinking too deeply and you’re just clicking away. That’s kind of how they get you, right?” she said. “Because they know that they want you to make a quick decision. They know you’re not paying careful attention. And it’s very easy to kind of take advantage of you at that point.”
A FAA flag is displayed at the Orville Wright Federal Building which houses the Federal Aviation Administration headquarters on June, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Federal Aviation Administration employee was arrested Monday after he allegedly threatened to harm the president and used a work computer to research his plans, prosecutors said.
Dean DelleChiaie, 35, of Nashua, New Hampshire, was slated to appear in federal court Tuesday on charges of communicating an interstate threat.
Prosecutors allege DelleChiaie used his government computer to search the internet for how to get a gun into a federal facility.
The suspect allegedly also made other incriminating searches on the device, including previous assassination attempts against Trump, the percentage of the population that wants the president dead and the phrase, “I am going to kill Donald John Trump,” according to the criminal complaint.
The Secret Service met with DelleChiaie in February, and he allegedly admitted to conducting those searches on his work computer, according to the complaint.
He also told the Secret Service he owned three firearms, including a handgun he kept inside a safe at home, prosecutors allege.
On April 21, DelleChiaie allegedly used his personal email to transmit a threat across state lines to the White House’s email address, prosecutors said.
The email had for a subject, “Contact the President,” and said, “I, Dean DelleChiaie, am going neutralize/kill you — Donald John Trump — because you decided to kill kids — and say that it was War — when in reality — it is terrorism. God knows your actions and where you belong,” according to the complaint.
Attorney information for the suspect was not immediately available.
DelleChiaie faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, if convicted.
