Speaking to reporters Sunday before departing Florida for Washington, Trump said Mamdani has requested a meeting at the White House. “We’ll work something out,” the president said, adding that he wants “everything to work out well for New York.”
The comments mark a dramatic turnaround. Trump has previously called Mamdani a communist, threatened to cut federal funding to New York, and even suggested deporting him despite Mamdani being a naturalized U.S. citizen who immigrated from Uganda.
Mamdani, 34, surged to national prominence during his mayoral campaign, becoming a social-media fixture and a symbol of opposition to Trump’s aggressive, anti-immigrant policies in his second term. The self-described democratic socialist defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo by nearly nine points, drawing support from a broad coalition of New Yorkers.
On election night, Mamdani pledged to stand up to Trump and “show the country how to defeat him.” But the following day, he struck a more pragmatic tone, saying he was willing to work with anyone including the president if it benefited New Yorkers.
Mamdani’s team did not comment Sunday on Trump’s latest remarks, but a spokesperson referred back to the mayor-elect’s statement last week, when he said he intended to reach out to the White House because the relationship would be “critical to the success of the city.”
