President Donald Trump said he and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani had a “great” conversation on Friday, after a highly anticipated first meeting between the two men at the White House.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office afterward, Trump heaped praise on the 34-year-old democratic socialist, saying he would help Mamdani.
“We’ve just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting,” Trump said. “We have one thing in common, we want this city of ours that we love to do very well.”
“The better he does, the happier I am. There is no difference in party,” added Trump, who often ruthlessly criticizes Democrats.
Trump also lauded Mamdani’s campaign, saying he “ran an incredible race against very smart people.”
The mayor-elect was less complimentary of Trump and repeatedly returned to the issue of affordability when asked about the meeting. “I know there might be differences about ideology, but the place of agreement is the work that needs to be done to make New York City affordable,” Mamdani said.
Trump had announced that he would meet Mamdani — whom he once called a “100% Communist Lunatic” — in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. Both men have leveled harsh criticism at each other, but Trump appeared to dismiss Mamdani’s past comments when asked on Friday.
“I’ve been called much worse than a despot, so it’s not that insulting,” Trump said.
The president appeared resigned to a Mamdani victory in the lead-up to the New York City mayoral election. But he nevertheless made an 11th-hour endorsement of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary — over the GOP nominee, Curtis Sliwa.
The meeting Friday is expected to set the tone for the relationship between the 34-year-old mayor-elect and the president, who has used threats to cut federal funding to pressure Democratic-led cities and elite institutions on various policies.
The relation appeared to be off to a good start. That may come as a disappointment to Republicans such as Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who seem to have been expecting a more adversarial reception.
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said. “I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help him do a great job.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.