Friday will be the first time New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump will meet face-to-face following a war of words between the two leaders throughout the campaign and Mamdani’s election.
And while Trump announced the meeting with an insult to the progressive Democrat’s policies, Mamdani has maintained that he is looking forward to the meeting at the White House to discuss his agenda, including addressing a “national affordability crisis.”
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks to supporters while campaigning on the final weekend before the 2025 mayoral election in New York City, Nov. 1, 2025.
Ryan Murphy/Reuters
“I’m not worried about this meeting. I see this meeting as an opportunity to state my case,” Mamdani told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.
Trump announced the meeting Wednesday night on social media, repeating the “communist” label he has been using against Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialist group, and putting his middle name, Kwame, in quotes.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he was going to “work something out” and meet with the mayor-elect in Washington.
“We want everything to go well for New York,” he told reporters.
Before the meeting, Robert Wolf, a former UBS executive close to former President Barack Obama, said on X that he had a Zoom call with Mamdani on Thursday “to discuss recent economic news and his upcoming meeting with President Trump.”
Mamdani has openly criticized the administration for its policies, including increased deportations, cuts to government agencies and attacks on Democratic-run cities.
On election night, the 34-year-old mayor-elect spoke directly to Trump in his acceptance speech, telling him to “turn up the volume” while promising to protect immigrants.
“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you’re going to have to get through all of us,” he said.
Since Mamdani won the June Democratic primary, Trump has spoken out against the state assemblyman, at one point threatening to deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, moved to New York as a child and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018.
“We’re going to be watching this very closely. And a lot of people say he’s here illegally,” Trump claimed without evidence in July.
President Donald Trump meets with the White House Task Force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Nov. 17, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
The president also threatened to withhold federal funding from New York if Mamdani won the election.
Mamdani’s critics have expressed skepticism about his proposals, calling them implausible and improbable since some would require state approval. He has also come under fire for his previous comments criticizing the actions of the NYPD and the Israeli government in the Gaza conflict.
The mayor-elect apologized for his comments against the department and promised to fight for Jewish New Yorkers, while continuing to criticize the Israeli government’s policies during the conflict.
Mamdani has also repeatedly ignored threats and said he will continue speaking out against the administration’s conservative policies.
“Their threats are inevitable,” Mamdani told ABC News a day after the election. “This has nothing to do with safety, it has to do with intimidation.”
At the same time, Mamdani has said he was open to talking to Trump, especially when it comes to affordability issues, noting that Trump won his re-election by promising to reduce price increases.
“I have many disagreements with the president. I intend to make it clear that I will work with him,” Mamdani said Thursday.
The mayor-elect won the election on a campaign to help New Yorkers with costs, with proposals such as raising the income tax on New Yorkers earning more than a million dollars a year, providing free child care to parents with children as young as six weeks old, and free public buses.
Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani greets workers at a local store during a campaign event in the Bronx borough of New York City, October 29, 2025.
Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters
Following Mamdani’s victory and other key Democrats’ victories, Trump has said in social media posts and news stories conferences that he and the Republicans are the party working to reduce costs.
“We are fighting for an economy where everyone can win, from the cashier starting their first job to the franchisee opening their first location to the young family waiting in line at the car,” he told a crowd in Pennsylvania on Monday.
-Aaron Katersky and Tonya Simpson of ABC News contributed to this report.
