other than the very minimum as required

[navi tasan]

"If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York City, it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home," said Trump, a native New Yorker.

Source:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-threatens-restrict-federal-funds-new-york-city-if-mamdani-wins-2025-11-03/

Is the phrase 'other than the very minimum as required'correct in that sentence?
Does it mean the very minimum that is required (by the law or....)?

Would a comma before 'as required' change the meaning? How?

This is just about grammar. Not politics.

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes, he means the minimum that the law requires. It's understandable. What else would require the president to spend Federal funds?

 

[Skrej]

Is the phrase 'other than the very minimum as required' correct in that sentence?

Yes, it's correct.

Would a comma before 'as required' change the meaning? How?

It might put some emphasis on "as required" to highlight the legal necessity of contributing something as opposed to nothing, but it wouldn't change the overall meaning, no.