President Trump and incoming New York mayor Zohran Mamdani set aside their feud in a surprisingly civil Oval Office meeting, pledging cooperation.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump and incoming New York mayor Zohran Mamdani set aside their bitter feud during a surprisingly cordial White House meeting on Friday.
The 79-year-old Republican president praised the 34-year-old leftist mayor-elect’s historic election win and called him a “man who really wants to see New York be great again.”
“We’re going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true: having a strong and very safe New York,” Trump told reporters.
Mamdani described the Oval Office face-to-face as “very productive” and spoke of the leaders’ “shared admiration and love” for America’s financial capital.
Both men hail from the Queens borough of New York City and both are masters of political theater, though their styles differ dramatically.
Trump repeatedly offered his support for Mamdani, even telling reporters it was “OK” for the younger politician to have called him a “despot.”
“I’ve been called much worse than a despot. So it’s not that insulting. Maybe he’ll change his mind after we get to working together,” a conciliatory Trump said.
Mamdani noted that many New Yorkers had backed Trump in the 2024 presidential election “because of that focus on cost of living.”
“And I’m looking forward to working together to deliver on that affordability,” he said.
The friendly encounter contrasted sharply with their previous exchanges, where Trump had mocked Mamdani’s South Asian name and threatened funding cuts.
The president had previously dangled cuts to federal funding and even National Guard deployments against Democratic cities.
Mamdani’s rise has been nothing short of electric, with the previously unknown candidate shattering records by pulling in more than one million votes.
He becomes the first New York mayoral candidate to achieve that feat since 1969 and will be the city’s first Muslim mayor.
The firebrand progressive has shown flashes of pragmatism since his election victory.
He reappointed incumbent police commissioner Jessica Tisch, popular with rank-and-file officers.
Mamdani also named veteran bureaucrat Dean Fuleihan as his first deputy mayor, signaling continuity amid his promised revolution.
On the campaign trail, Mamdani cast himself as part of the anti-Trump resistance.
He has since stressed his desire to work with the president on the “national crisis of affordability.” – AFP
