President Donald Trump and Democratic New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani struck a conciliatory tone during a Friday meeting at the White House, stressing their shared concern for New Yorkers and their skyrocketing cost of living.
Mamdani, a 34-year-old self-described democratic socialist fresh off an upstart victory, echoed Trump’s assertion that, despite their differences, the two found common ground about the city’s affordability crisis.
Following a roughly 30-minute private meeting in the Oval Office, the two fielded questions from the press, with Trump downplaying the harsh rhetoric they hurled at each other during the mayoral campaign.
“We agreed a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said of their meeting, which they noted focused on populist issues affecting the average person in the city.
“We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out,” Trump said.
Mamdani thanked Trump for hosting their meeting, and noted that while they disagree on much, he and the president saw eye to eye on helping the people of Trump’s hometown, which Mamdani described as “a place of shared admiration and love.”
“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, [but] … focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.
Trump, who dismissed Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” during the campaign and threatened to cut federal funding to New York City and send in the National Guard, shifted his tone in the Oval Office, claiming he would feel “very, very comfortable” living in the city under Mamdani’s leadership.
“We had some interesting conversation, and some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have,” Trump said.
The “one thing we have in common,” Trump said, was that they both “want this city of ours that we love to do very well.” He noted they also discussed crime, an issue on which he said they are also in agreement.
“We discussed crime, and he doesn’t want to see crime, and I don’t want to see crime, and I have very little doubt that we’re not [sic] going to get along on that issue,” he said.
Taking questions from reporters, Trump stepped in to parry questions grilling Mamdani on when he called the president “a fascist” and “a despot.”
During his electoral victory speech during the early-morning hours of Nov. 5, Mamdani vowed to “Trump-proof” New York City and hire extra lawyers to fend off federal overreach in response to Trump’s threats to send in the National Guard.
“Since I know you’re watching,” he told Trump on election night, “I have four words for you: turn the volume up!”
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump attempted to steer the conversation in a more diplomatic direction.
“I’ve been called much worse than a despot, so it’s not that insulting,” Trump told the press Friday. When a reporter pressed Mamdani to explain if he still believes Trump is “a fascist,” Trump cut in.
“That’s OK, you can just say yes. That’s easier than explaining it,” he said while patting Mamdani’s arm.
Trump noted that his high-profile meeting with the young socialist mayor-elect drew an especially heightened level of public interest.
“This has received more coverage than any meeting I’ve had, even with world leaders,” he joked.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
