President Donald Trump shared Wednesday that he will be meeting New York City’s incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, at the White House later this week.
In a post online, Trump called Mamdani a “Communist Mayor” and said Mamdani requested the meeting. It will take place in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump said.
Mamdani earned a historic victory on Election Day earlier this month. His campaign propelled him to be one of the youngest mayors in New York City’s history, the first Muslim to hold the position and the first outspoken democratic socialist, as he generated high voter turnout in both the primary and general elections.
Mamdani, who ran on lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers, also pushed back against Trump throughout his campaign and in his victory speech. He directly called out the president in his remarks, after Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won.
“So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” Mamdani, the former state assemblyman, said during his speech on election night.
While the two have traded barbs online and from afar, the meeting Friday is being seen as the first step to building some sort of relationship between the two leaders.
Mamdani appeared on MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, on Wednesday evening after Trump announced their planned meeting. He confirmed that his transition team reached out to the White House to arrange the meeting on Friday.
The mayor-elect said the meeting is due to a commitment he made to New Yorkers that he’d be “willing to meet with anyone and everyone, so long as it was to the benefit of the 8.5 million people who call the city home and their struggle to afford the most expensive city in the United States of America.”
“I just want to speak plainly to the president about what it means to actually stand up for New Yorkers and the way in which New Yorkers are struggling to afford this city,” Mamdani said. “And frankly, cost of living is something that I heard time and time again from New Yorkers about why they voted for Donald Trump.”
Mamdani was also asked about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts and what that means for the millions of immigrants living in New York City. He said he would “close the door” on outgoing Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to allow the New York Police Department to carry out the administration’s immigration enforcement plans.
“It is time to have a mayor of the city who recognizes the risk is a present day one and will stand up for each and everyone one of the 3 million immigrants who call the city home. I’m one of them, and I understand that an attack on any New Yorker is an attack on the entirety of the city,” he said.
Leading up to the New York City mayoral election, Trump called Mamdani an extremist for his democratic socialist views and campaign promises. In a last-minute move, Trump endorsed Mamdani’s closest rival in the race, independent candidate and former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The president urged Republicans to back Cuomo in the hopes that Mamdani would be defeated.
The effort was unsuccessful, as Mamdani’s victory was called just hours after polls closed. He secured the win with 50.4% of the vote compared to Cuomo’s 41.6%.