Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, emerged from a meeting at the White House on Friday with an unexpected alliance, pledging to collaborate on housing, food prices and cost-of-living issues that have resonated with working-class voters. 'We agreed a lot more than I would have thought,' Trump said, adding that he would help Mamdani 'make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York.'
The meeting, which many expected to be contentious given Trump's previous description of Mamdani as a 'communist lunatic,' instead produced camaraderie and concrete pledges of cooperation. Trump praised Mamdani's electoral victory, calling it 'an incredible race against smart people,' and the two shook hands. Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who won over 50% of the vote in November, described the discussion as 'productive' and focused on shared love for New York City.
During the Oval Office sit-down, the pair discussed rent, groceries, utilities, and ways to prevent people from being pushed out of the city. Trump noted that some of Mamdani's ideas aligned with his own, particularly on lowering crime and building housing. The meeting marked the first face-to-face encounter between the Republican president and the left-wing mayor-elect, who previously served as a state assemblymember.
Mamdani's team initiated the meeting amid Trump's earlier threats to withhold federal funding from New York. However, Trump has since adopted a more conciliatory tone, telling Fox News: 'I’m so torn, because I would like to see the new mayor do well, because I love New York.' Ahead of the meeting, Mamdani consulted with Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and civil rights leader Al Sharpton. He also spoke with Robert Wolf, former CEO of UBS Americas.
When asked about potential hostility similar to Trump's contentious meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mamdani dismissed concerns, stating: 'I’ll stand up for New Yorkers every single day.' The incoming mayor framed the meeting as an opportunity to advance his campaign platform, which includes free public buses, government-run grocery stores, rent freezes, and universal childcare.
