Trump to Meet NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani on Friday

By Kimberly Hayek
Kimberly Hayek
Kimberly Hayek
Kimberly Hayek is a reporter for The Epoch Times. She covers California news and has worked as an editor and on scene at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2018 migrant caravan crisis.
November 19, 2025Updated: November 20, 2025

President Donald Trump announced he will meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday, marking the first meeting between the president and the democratic socialist who won the mayoral election earlier this month.

“Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, his social media company, on Wednesday. “We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st. Further details to follow!”

Before the mayoral election, Trump endorsed Mamdani’s opponent, Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who ran as an independent, and threatened to cut federal funding for the city if Mamdani, the official Democratic nominee, were to win.

Mamdani, a member of the New York State Assembly representing parts of Queens, campaigned on left-leaning policies and is set to be sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, 2026, succeeding Eric Adams.

Mamdani, who presented himself as an opponent to Trump’s agenda, revealed earlier this week that his transition team had contacted the White House.

“My team reached out to the White House to fulfill a commitment I made to New Yorkers over the course of this campaign,” Mamdani told reporters Monday.

Trump, who is from New York, signaled his interest on Sunday in meeting Mamdani.

“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us, and we’ll work something out,” Trump said. “We want to see everything work out well for New York.”

The president mentioned Mamdani during a Nov. 5 speech at the America Business Forum in Miami.

“We lost a little bit of sovereignty last night in New York, but we’ll take care of it,” Trump said, saying he still wants the city to thrive despite his misgivings over Mamdani’s platform and election.

“We’re going to see how that works out,” the president said. “We‘ll help them. We want New York to be successful. We’ll help them a little bit.”

After his election, Mamdani chose to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, highlighting her efforts in addressing corruption within the department after his previous calls for defunding the police. Tisch agreed to continue in her role.

Reuters contributed to this report.