President Donald Trump said he will arrange a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, adding that he wanted things to work out well for America’s biggest city.
Newsweek contacted Mamdani’s office seeking comment by email after office hours on Sunday evening.
Why It Matters
Trump branded Mamdani a “communist,” questioned his citizenship and threatened to arrest him in the run-up to his victory in New York’s mayoral election on November 4. The president also suggested he would withhold federal funding or deploy federal troops to New York City if Mamdani was elected mayor.
Trump’s willingness to meet Mamdani should help to ease tensions between the city’s leadership and federal authorities. The relationship between the Trump administration and the city could affect millions of New Yorkers, and Mamdani has already said it is vital for the city’s success.
What To Know
Trump told reporters on Sunday Mamdani had requested a meeting, saying, “The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us and we’ll work something out. He would like to come to Washington and meet and we’ll work something out.”
He gave no date but added: “We want to see everything work out well for New York.”
Mamdani has said he would like to meet the president and told NBC New York in an interview on November 11 that he “will be reaching out to the White House as we prepare to actually take office because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of the city.”
Mamdani also said he will be “proactive” in attempts to dissuade the administration from sending ICE agents and National Guard troops into New York.
Trump urged New York City residents to vote for former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate, in the mayoral election and threatened to withhold funding for the city if Mamdani won.
Mamdani will be the youngest mayor of New York in over a century and the city’s first Muslim mayor. His policy platform centers on combating affordability crises through measures such as universal child care, free buses, and raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this month: “[Mamdani] has to be a little bit respectful of Washington. Because if he’s not, he doesn’t have a chance of succeeding, and I want to make him succeed, I want to make the city succeed…And we’ll see what happens.”
Mamdani said in his November 11 interview with NBC: “I’ll say that I’m here to work for the benefit of everyone who calls the city home and that wherever there is a possibility for working together towards that end, I’m ready. And if it’s to the expense of those New Yorkers, I will fight it.”
What Happens Next
Mamdani will be inaugurated as mayor on January 1
