President Donald Trump said he will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Friday, though he signaled the possibility of an uncompromising stand in their talks as he announced the meeting, calling Mamdani the city’s “communist” mayor.
Mamdani, who easily won New York’s mayoral election November 4, has said he would like to meet the president and that the relationship with the White House “will be critical to the success of the city.”
“Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting. We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st. Further details to follow!” Trump said in a post to his Truth Social page.
Trump branded Mamdani a “communist,” questioned his citizenship and threatened to arrest him in the run-up to his election victory. The president also suggested he would withhold federal funding or deploy federal troops to New York City if Mamdani, a self-professed democratic socialist, was elected mayor.
But Trump’s later expression of his willingness to meet Mamdani raised the prospect of an easing of tensions between the city’s leadership and federal authorities. The relationship between the Trump administration and the city could affect millions of New Yorkers.
However, tensions resurfaced earlier on Wednesday after White House border czar Tom Homan said that federal officers would surge into New York City as part of a larger push by the Trump administration to target immigrants in major U.S. cities.
Mamdani said he wants the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to focus on public safety and not assist with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the city.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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