President Donald Trump has endorsed Indian American Republican Saritha Komatireddy in the race for New York attorney general, touting the former federal prosecutor and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief of staff as the candidate to unseat Democratic incumbent Letitia James in November.
Trump announced his “complete and total endorsement” of Komatireddy in a lengthy Truth Social post, highlighting her prosecutorial and national security experience, her tenure at the DEA and her 2020 nomination by him to serve as a federal judge in New York.
“It is my Great Honor to endorse America First Patriot, Saritha Komatireddy, who is running to be the next Attorney General” of New York, Trump wrote. He also noted that she has the backing of Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman.
Trump sharply attacked James, accusing her of using the attorney general’s office to pursue him politically. James successfully sued Trump and the Trump Organization in a civil fraud case, although a New York appeals court later struck down the nearly $465 million financial penalty imposed on Trump as excessive while leaving the underlying liability finding in place.
Drawing a contrast between the two candidates, Trump said Komatireddy would focus on law and order, economic growth, support for law enforcement, first responders, the military and veterans, election integrity, border security, the Constitution and Second Amendment rights.
READ: Meet Saritha Komatireddy, Indian American lawyer running for New York Attorney General (May 17, 2026)
“As a former Federal Prosecutor, Chief of Staff of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Law Clerk for then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and a distinguished Harvard Law School graduate, with Honors, Saritha has proven she has the Courage and Wisdom to deliver strong results,” Trump wrote.
Komatireddy welcomed the endorsement in a social media post Saturday, recalling that Trump had previously selected her for the federal bench.
“I was honored to be nominated to be a federal judge by the President in 2020 and I’m honored to receive his endorsement today,” she wrote on X. “I’m working hard to win the support of all New Yorkers and defeat Letitia James this November.”
Komatireddy, the Republican and Conservative Party nominee for attorney general, is not a newcomer to federal law enforcement. She spent more than 12 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York, holding several leadership positions and working on national security, narcotics, money laundering, cybercrime and other federal cases.
Her prosecutorial work included cases involving terrorism and transnational criminal organizations. She later served as chief of staff of the DEA from 2023 to 2024.
Komatireddy has made public safety a centerpiece of her campaign.
“I’m running for Attorney General because we need a prosecutor in charge, focused on New York and focused on safety,” she has said.
“What’s the point of chasing international terrorists and cybercriminals overseas if right here at home I’m worried about my family’s safety?” she said. “That is why I am running for Attorney General. New Yorkers deserve the same focus on public safety right here at home.”
She has also sought to link crime with the broader cost-of-living concerns facing New Yorkers, declaring: “There’s a three word solution to affordability in New York: Just Fight Crime.”
Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, to Indian immigrant parents, Komatireddy is a first-generation Indian American whose family traces its roots to Telangana.
Her parents, Hanumanth Reddy and Geetha Reddy, are physicians who immigrated to the United States from India in the 1980s. Komatireddy grew up in Missouri before attending Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
She began her legal career clerking for then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, years before Kavanaugh became a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
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Komatireddy also served as counsel to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling before embarking on her lengthy career as a federal prosecutor.
In 2020, Trump nominated her to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The nomination did not result in her confirmation before Trump left office.
Komatireddy is currently a partner at the law firm Holtzman Vogel, where her practice includes complex federal investigations and appeals, and is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia Law School.
She is now seeking to unseat James in the November election, drawing on her extensive prosecutorial and national security experience in her bid to become New York’s next attorney general.