President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani were expected to have a showdown at the White House on Friday in their first face-to-face meeting. Instead, they got along.
“The better he does, the happier I am,” the president said in opening remarks, taking a far kinder tone than the rhetoric that preceded the meeting. “I feel very confident that he’s going to do a very good job.”
Concerns around whether the Trump administration would treat New York City like a punching bag after Mayor Eric Adams leaves office have swirled since Mamdani’s primary victory. But Trump and Mamdani both took a conciliatory tone. They gave each other cover as they answered a steady stream of questions about the barbs they’ve traded, suggesting that the relationship isn’t on shaky ground as many feared.
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The president said he was “surprised” at how well the meeting went, and that he would be comfortable living in New York under the new mayor-elect.
“We had a meeting today that actually surprised me. He wants to see no crime, he wants to see housing being built,” he said. “We agreed a lot more than I thought.”
The president made clear that for now, his opinion of the young Ugandan-born politician has changed. Trump ruminated on their similarities as outsider politicians who took on establishment rivals.
“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help, because I want New York City to be great,” Trump said. “Look, I love New York City. It’s where I come from. I spent a lot of years there. Now I’m right here.”
As Mamdani stood behind the Resolute Desk and next to the president during media availability, he remained laser-focused on his signature message: the cost of living.
“It was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.
Trump joked with him in front of the cameras and patted his arm repeatedly. The pair have traded barbs in the past, with Trump routinely calling Mamdani a “communist” and the mayor-elect calling Trump a “despot.”
But when asked about their previous remarks by reporters, they both shrugged off each other’s harsh words.
“I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views, and what I really appreciate about the president is the meeting that we had focused, not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.
“I’ve been called much worse than a despot,” the president quipped. “Maybe I think he’ll change his mind after we get to working together.”
Asked later whether Mamdani still believes Trump to be a fascist, the president intervened, telling the young politician he didn’t need to answer — giving a man whom he once called “my little communist” cover.
“You can just say ‘yes,’ OK,” Trump said. “It’s easier than explaining, I don’t mind.”
One point of contention that emerged in the meeting was on the issue of immigration and crime.
“So we’re going to work together. We’re going to make sure, if they’re horrible people, that we want to get them out, I think he wants to get ’em out maybe more than I do,” Trump said. “So we’ll work together. We discussed it at great length.”
Still, the president said he believed that Mamdani would “surprise some conservative people.”
“He’s going to change also,” the president predicted, when asked why he previously referred to Mamdani as a communist.
The White House was buzzing with anticipation in advance of Mamdani’s visit. Dozens of reporters crowded the White House driveway to get a glimpse of Mamdani. Even Trump administration staff emerged from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to view Mamdani’s arrival from across the street.
The meeting was initiated by Mamdani, who was elected to lead America’s largest city by focusing on making New York City more affordable. Voters overwhelmingly elected Mamdani to lead the city, beating out former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the primaries.
Mamdani’s win comes at a time when Americans are increasingly critical of the Trump administration for not doing enough to make life more affordable.
Trump has also threatened to withhold federal funding from the city, which could upend operations and services. New York City’s budget relies on $7.4 billion dollars in federal funding, roughly 6.4% of the city’s operating budget. The threat wasn’t addressed by either Trump or Mamdani during the press conference.
Immigration is expected to be a major flashpoint between the Trump White House and New York City under Mamdani. Despite New York City having one of the highest immigrant populations and being the nation’s largest “sanctuary” city, it has mostly avoided major clashes between the White House and city leadership on immigration due to Adams’ chummy relationship with Trump.
Trump suggested during the meeting there may be room to work with the Mamdani administration, too.
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