President Donald Trump said Thursday he had a “very productive meeting” with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after the two met in the Oval Office to discuss cost-of-living pressures and public safety in the nation’s largest city.
The session, requested by Mamdani, came amid earlier public sparring between the two leaders. Trump had threatened to withhold federal funding for New York and used inflammatory language to describe the 34-year-old former state lawmaker — calling him a “radical left lunatic,” a communist and a “Jew hater” — assertions the president offered without evidence. Those attacks eased as the meeting approached; Trump said he expected a “quite civil” encounter and praised Mamdani’s successful campaign.
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“We’ve just had a great … very productive meeting,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “We want this city of ours that we love to do very well. The better he does, the happier I am … And we’re going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true.”
Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who will be sworn in Jan. 1, posted a grinning selfie en route to Washington and said afterward that he had “many disagreements with the president” but intended “to make it clear to President Trump that I will work with him on any agenda that benefits New Yorkers.” He added that he would speak out if federal proposals would harm the city.
The mayor-elect is poised to be the first Muslim and first South Asian mayor of New York City, whose 8.5 million residents include nearly 40% who were born abroad. Mamdani campaigned on affordability — focusing on housing, groceries, childcare and public transit — in a city where rents are nearly double the nationwide average.
Inflation and the cost of living have been weak points for the president: a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found just 26% of Americans say Trump is doing a good job managing the cost of living. The stakes for federal-city relations are real: a New York State comptroller report projects the federal government will provide about $7.4 billion to New York City in fiscal year 2026, roughly 6.4% of the city’s total spending.
It remained unclear what legal footing Trump would have to withhold funds Congress has mandated.
The Oval Office has hosted a mix of cordial and contentious encounters under Trump, from respectful meetings with opponents to surprise confrontations with visiting leaders. The meeting with Mamdani is likely to be watched closely in both New York and Washington for signals about how the incoming mayor will navigate a city facing affordability, safety and immigration concerns while the federal government remains a major funding source.
After the election, Mamdani’s campaign style — energetic and social-media savvy — rekindled debate among Democrats about strategy and tone. In his victory speech he urged supporters to “turn the volume up,” a line Trump later said he did not fully understand and warned Mamdani to be “careful” in his phrasing.
For now, both men signaled a willingness to talk. Whether that produces durable cooperation on the practical challenges confronting New Yorkers remains to be seen.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
