President Donald Trump on Sunday night said he may sit down with Democratic New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in Washington D.C., telling reporters the avowed socialist “would like to meet with us.”
It’s unclear when the meeting might take place, but Mamdani has said he “continues to be interested” in speaking with Trump “on the ways in which we can work together to serve New Yorkers.” The pair exchanged blows throughout Mamdani’s successful mayoral campaign, with the 34-year-old referring to himself as Trump’s “worst nightmare” and the president calling Mamdani a “communist” and “total nutjob.”
“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us and we’ll work something out. But he would like to come to Washington and meet and we’ll work something out,” Trump told reporters at the Palm Beach International Airport. “We want to see everything work out well for New York.”
Mamdani said he would contact the White House before his swearing in on Jan. 1, telling NBC New York last week that a relationship with the president “will be critical to the success of the city.”
“I’ll say that I’m here to work for the benefit of everyone who calls the city home and that wherever there is a possibility for working together towards that end, I’m ready,” Mamdani said regarding a potential conversation with Trump, who was born and raised in New York City and notably began his real estate empire there. “And if it’s to the expense of those New Yorkers, I will fight it.”
Trump’s openness to meet with Mamdani seems to mark a pivot from earlier in November when he threatened to revoke federal funds from the city if the socialist was elected its mayor. Mamdani won the mayoral race the following day, taking 50.4% of the vote to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 41.6% in an election that saw the city’s highest voter turnout in half a century. Trump gave Cuomo a last-minute endorsement, that was still unable to halt Mamdani’s momentum
Mamdani also awaits vetting by law enforcement to receive top-level security clearance from the federal government that will allow him to be briefed on threats to the nation’s largest city. Trump has used federal security clearances as leverage in the past, revoking them from New York State Attorney General Letitia James — who is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice over mortgage fraud allegations — and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who indicted the president over allegations of violating state election law.
The president has never publicly suggested withholding security clearance from Mamdani like he has with the Big Apple’s federal funds, as the city has remained a potential target for terror attacks for years.
The White House pointed to the president’s remarks when reached for comment. Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s comment request.
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