President Trump says he will meet with NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani

Source: USA Today

Updated Nov. 17, 2025, 3:42 p.m. ET


President Donald Trump said he is planning on meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Trump has repeatedly bashed Mamdani, calling him a communist and endorsing opponent Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor who lost in the primary and ran in the general election as an independent. But Mamdani, a 34-year-old state assemblyman from Queens who identifies as a Democratic socialist, won the race with historic voter turnout.

“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us, and we’ll work something out. But he would like to come to Washington,” Trump told reporters on Nov. 16. "We want to see everything work out well for New York." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to USA TODAY that Trump meant Mamdani (The current mayor is still Eric Adams).

Mamdani said on Nov. 17 he had reached out to the White House to follow through on his commitment to work with anyone on affordability in New York City, per comments provided by a spokesperson.

"We are seeing his actions and that of his administration in Washington leading to the exact opposite effect for New Yorkers," he said. "I will go to make the case to the President and to anyone, frankly, that these are the kinds of things we need to change if we want to make it easier for New Yorkers and for Americans to afford the day to day necessities of their life.”

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/11/17/donald-trump-zohran-mamdani/87315642007/