US President Donald Trump. New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. (Photo: AP)US President Donald Trump is set to host New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the White House for their first meeting following the latter’s election win earlier this month. Though his name was not on the ballot, Trump and his comments had dominated the New York Mayor election cycle.
Trump had repeatedly called Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, ‘a Communist’, and in his victory speech, the Mayor-elect described himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”
However, in the past couple of days, both Trump and Mamdani have toned down their rhetoric and have spoken about working together.
A Mamdani spokesperson said on Wednesday the mayor-elect planned to meet Trump in Washington “to discuss public safety, economic security, and the affordability agenda.”
During the mayoral election campaign, Trump threatened to withhold billions of dollars in federal funding from the city if Mamdani won.
According to Fox News, Mamdani said he hopes to “share the facts about the affordability crisis in the city” while waving off the idea that the president could use the meeting to embarrass him.
“I have many disagreements with the president, and I believe that we should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that can make our city affordable for every single New Yorker,” he said.
On Friday, Trump, in a Fox News Radio interview, said he expected the meeting will be “quite civil.”
“I think we’ll get along fine,” he said. “Look, we’re looking for the same thing. We want to make New York strong.”
He said the mayor-elect has “a different philosophy” but said he gives him “a lot of credit” for his campaign and said, “He ran a good race.”
