President Donald Trump meets with New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on November 21, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani reversed their acute criticism in their remarks to the press after a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday.
After months of attacking each other, Trump and Mamdani vowed to address New Yorkers’ high cost of living. The White House has tried in recent weeks to steer messaging toward affordability, as has Trump’s approval ratings on the economy sunk.
“Some of his ideas are actually the same as mine,” Trump said. “You know, the new word is affordability. Another word is just food. It’s kind of an old-fashioned word, but it’s very accurate. They’re coming back.”
Food prices have increased significantly in recent years. Total food cost 3.1% more than a year ago, according to the government’s latest consumer price index.
Mamdani advocated for lowering the cost of living, including property tax reform, free buses, and the proliferation of urban grocery stores.
The mayor-elect described the meeting as “a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, New York City, and the need to provide affordability to New Yorkers.”
“We talked about rent, we talked about food, we talked about utilities, we talked about the different ways people are being evicted, and I really appreciated the time with the president,” Mamdani said.
The pair raised questions about housing costs and crime, whether either would back down on his recent contradictions and whether Trump would back off his threats to cut federal funding to New York City.
“Well, I think if we can’t get along, let’s see if we can cut it off or just make it a little more difficult or not give as much,” Trump said.
“We had a meeting today that really surprised me. He doesn’t want to see crime. He wants to see housing built. He wants rents to go down. All things I agree with. Now we may disagree on how to get there,” Trump added.
In response to a question about Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Trump ally who called Mamdani a “jihadist” as she eyes the New York governor’s seat, Trump replied: “She’s out there campaigning, and sometimes you say things on the campaign trail.”
“I met with a man who is a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see New York become great again,” Trump continued, adding, “I’ll be cheering him on.”
Mamdani becomes the city’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest ever elected.
Mamdani sought a meeting
Mamdani said he sought the meeting with Trump.
“My team reached out to the White House to organize this meeting because I will work with everyone to make life more affordable for the eight and a half million people who call this city home,” Mamdani said said in a press conference on Thursday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that the meeting “shows the fact that President Trump is willing to meet with anyone.”
“It speaks volumes that a communist is coming to the White House tomorrow.”
Trump and congressional Republicans have repeatedly called the 34-year-old Mamdani a “communist.” Mamdani, who ran for the Democrats, identifies as a Democratic Socialist, an organization that has about 85,000 members nationwide. The ideology as a movement gained momentum following the 2016 presidential candidacy of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who represents Vermont and caucuses with Democrats.
According to the New York Times, Mamdani beat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo this month by a margin of 50.4% to 41% Election coverage. Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa received just over 7% of the vote. Cuomo, who ran as an independent, resigned from office in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment.
Trump appeared to reluctantly support Cuomo in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on the eve of the election.
“Whether you like Andrew Cuomo personally or not, you really have no choice,” he wrote. “You have to vote for him and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”
Threatening to cut off funding
As Mamdani’s campaign gained momentum, Trump threatened to cut off billions of dollars in federal funding from New York City, Trump’s hometown.
Trump repeated He wrote on Truth Social that New York City would be a “total economic and social disaster” if Mamdani won and that NYC should not expect any federal money “other than the minimum necessary.”
In Mamdani’s victory speech, he called Trump a “despot.”
Trump in July threatened to arrest Mamdani if the up-to-date mayor fails to comply with the administration’s mass deportation campaign, including sending an influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into New York City.
