President Donald Trump told a room full of supporters Monday in Utica that Gov. Andrew Cuomo promised he would never challenge him in a presidential election.

Trump, speaking to more than 300 people at a fundraiser for Rep. Claudia Tenney at the Hotel Utica, was critical of Cuomo's handling of the state's economy, taxes and gun control.

"Cuomo wants to take away your Second Amendment (rights)," Trump told an audience that spent from $1,000 to $15,000 per ticket to hear him speak for a little more than half an hour.

"Now, he called me and he said, 'I'll never run for president against you.' But maybe he wants to?" Trump said of Cuomo, who has been among Democrats often mentioned as potential candidate for president in 2020.

"Oh, please do it," Trump said, mocking the two-term governor. "Please. Please! He did say that. Maybe he meant it. The one thing we know, and they do say, 'Anybody that runs against Trump suffers.' That's the way it should be."

Cuomo's office had no immediate comment about Trump's claim.

Trump blamed Cuomo for the economic woes in Utica and Upstate New York, and suggested that the governor missed an opportunity by refusing to allow fracking for natural gas in New York state.

"It's a shame, because you could have had no taxes," Trump said. "You could have had the lowest taxes instead of the highest taxes. And it's very sad to see what happened with New York...With the use of brain power and common sense, you could have had a boom town up here."

Trump and Cuomo have publicly feuded since 2017 over issues that include the Affordable Care Act, immigration and the Republican tax overhaul.

Earlier Monday, Cuomo wrote a sarcastic open letter, welcoming Trump back to New York, the "progressive capital of the nation."

"Despite being a native New Yorker, since you took office you have attacked our healthcare, passed a tax law that punished New York in order to fund corporate tax cuts, ripped immigrant New Yorkers from their families, launched an assault on our environment, and undermined the basic values on which this state and this nation were built," Cuomo wrote.

The governor added: "Perhaps you can use this trip to New York to help you remember what truly makes this state and this nation great."

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