Newsman: President Trump and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani met at white house, despite their political differences. They both have said they’ll look to work together to improve the nation’s largest city.
President trump said he expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help, because he want New York City to be great.
New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he viewed their first face-to-face meeting at the White House on Friday as an “opportunity” to work together on lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers.
In an Oval Office meeting on Friday, they were far friendlier, with the president at times praising the mayor-elect despite their political differences.
After months of trading insults during the campaign, the two were friendly during the meeting, with the president telling reporters he’ll be “cheering” for Mamdani, and the mayor-elect calling the meeting “productive.”
Following their meeting, “ I expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help, because I want New York City to be great” President trump told reporters. Johran Mamdani was asked by reporters if he stood by his decision to call Trump a “fascist” during his campaign.
“I don’t care about affiliations or parties or anything else. I want to see — if this city could be unbelievable, if he could be a spectacular success, I’d be very happy” President Trump said.
“That’s OK, you can just say it,” Trump told him, jokingly. “It’s easier; it’s easier than explaining it.”
“After President Trump said that, I said, ‘Yes,’” Mamdani said.
He added, “That’s something I’ve said in the past and I say today. And I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment, and we also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver on a shared analysis of an affordability crisis for New Yorkers.”
Mamdani referred to other past negative comments about Trump, telling Welker, “Everything that I’ve said in the past, I continue to believe.”
“I’m not coming into the Oval Office to make a point or make a stand. I’m coming in there to deliver for New Yorkers,” he added.
“I shared with the president that when I asked those New Yorkers why did they vote for the president, they told me again and again, it was cost of living, cost of living, cost of living,” the mayor-elect said. “And when the president and I were speaking, we were speaking about what is preventing from delivering on that affordability agenda.”
On Friday, after reporters asked the pair about that particular insult, the president said, “I’ve been called much worse than a despot,” adding, “I think he’ll change his mind after we get to working together.”
Mamdani didn’t answer questions about whether Trump ruled out the possibility of sending troops to New York City, but said, “What I told him is that what separates New York City from anywhere else in the country is we have the NYPD, and I trust the NYPD to deliver public safety, and to me, that is something that I know that they can do, that they have done, and they will continue to do under my leadership.”
Asked at the White House on Saturday whether he planned to send troops to New York City, Trump said simply, “If they need it.”
“Right now, other places need it more, but if they need — we had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that, but if they need it, I would do it,” Trump told reporters.
The mayor-elect didn’t answer questions about whether Hochul has committed to helping him raise taxes, but said the two are both committed to making New York City more affordable.
“I think she’ll work with me to deliver on affordability. I think raising taxes make the most sense,” Mamdani said. “If there’s any alternatives that raise the same amount of money, I’m open.”
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Trump frequently bashed Mamdani online, calling him a “communist lunatic” and threatening to cut off federal funding for New York City if voters elected Mamdani, who refers to himself as a democratic socialist. Mamdani often shot back, once calling Trump a “despot.”
On the eve of the election, Trump even endorsed Mamdani’s strongest opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat-turned-independent who ran in the general election after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
In his victory speech, Mamdani spoke forcefully against the Trump administration, promising that “New York will be the light” in political darkness and telling Trump to “turn the volume up.”
