Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said that the key to his recent successful closed door meeting with President Donald Trump was a shared interest in the cost of living and making the city better.
“Too often, when two politicians meet, the conversation rarely extends beyond them,” Mamdani said Sunday at a news conference outside of Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church in the Bronx. “And what we found instead is that this was a conversation that was productive, a conversation that was focused on New York City and a conversation that looks to deliver for the people of New York City.”
Mamdani said he was “feeling good” in his first appearance back in New York City since his trip to the nation’s capital.
Politicians across the country, analysts and local New Yorkers reacted with surprise to the nature of the two leaders' meeting that appeared cordial and friendly. Some opined on social media that Mamdani had ‘won’ the meeting, while others said Trump did.
“I think it was New Yorkers that won in this conversation. It was a conversation that came back again and again to the people of the city,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani’s return to the city comes just over a month before he is set to be sworn in to City Hall, leaving future questions looming about Trump’s involvement in local affairs once he takes office. The Trump administration has previously threatened to withhold critical federal funding for the Hudson River tunnels project and the Second Avenue Subway extension, and deploy National Guard troops to address perceived crime.
Mamdani said earlier in the morning on an appearance on “Meet The Press” that he told Trump there is no need to deploy the National Guard to New York, like he has in other cities.
“What I told him is that what separates New York City from anywhere else in the country is that we have the NYPD. And I trust the NYPD to deliver public safety,” Mamdani said. “And, to me, that is something that I know they can do, have done and will continue to do under my leadership."
President Trump said on Saturday that he would send the National Guard to the city if he felt it was needed, but other places need it more right now.
But the mayor-elect said he’s confident that the federal government will help in the effort to improve life in the city — but still acknowledged key differences on the issues of immigration.
“I’ll let the president speak for himself,” Mamdani said when asked about Trump believing ICE hasn’t done enough in the city yet. “ There may be disagreements between the president and myself, and they will continue to be, and I will always make the case for each and every person that calls the City Hall.”
