US President Donald Trump indicated on Sunday that he plans to meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zoharan Mamdani and said they will “work something out.” It is being considered a sign of a possible thaw between the Republican President and Mamdani, a Democratic leader who has portrayed each other as political rivals for months.
Trump has long criticized Mamdani, falsely calling him a “communist.” Trump had also said that if Mamdani was elected mayor of New York, his hometown New York would be ruined. Trump even threatened to deport Mamdani and withdraw federal funding from the city. Mamdani was born in Uganda, but has become a US citizen.
Before the mayor’s election, Mamdani was in very little discussion but after this he emerged as a dynamic leader and gained a lot of popularity on social media also. He became a symbol of resistance against Trump during the mayoral election campaign. He campaigned on a number of progressive policies that stood in stark contrast to the aggressive, anti-immigrant agenda introduced by Trump in his second term in the White House (the official residence and office of the US President).
Mamdani, 34, captured the attention of a wide section of New York and defeated one of its veteran leaders, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, by nearly nine percent of the vote.
In his victory address on election night, Mamdani said he wanted New York to show the country how to defeat the president. The mayor-elect also said that once he takes office in January, he is willing to work with anyone, including the President, as long as it helps New Yorkers.
Trump also expressed similar sentiments on Sunday. “I would like the mayor of New York to meet with us,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to return to Washington after spending the weekend in Florida. We will find some way or the other.”
White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt shortly afterward clarified that Trump was referring to Mamdani and said no date has been set for such a meeting. “We want everything to go well for New York,” Trump said.
