President Donald Trump welcomed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to the White House on Friday (November 21), where the two discussed plans to help New Yorkers.
Prior to New York City's mayoral election, President Trump continuously traded barbs with Mamdani, who is a self-described democratic socialist, and even endorsed his opponent Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing the Democratic Party primary. Mamdani criticized Trump as well, calling him out over his immigration policy and heavy-handed tactics used to enforce it.
Despite the previous attacks, President Trump offered a cordial tone after the two met privately, and vowed to work with Mamdani to ensure New York City thrives.
"I just want to congratulate. I think you're going to have hopefully a really great mayor and the better he does, the happier I am. I will say there's no difference in party. There's no difference in anything. And we're going to be helping him, to make everybody's dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York and congratulations, Mr. mayor," Trump said.
When asked by a reporter if Trump said he would consider moving back to New York City.
"Absolutely. We agree on a lot more than I would've thought. I want him to do a great job, and we'll help him do a great job," Trump said, adding "I would feel very, very comfortable being in New York, and I think much more so after the meeting."
Mamdani said that, despite their many differences, he looks forward to working with President Trump to make New York City better.
"What I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting that we had focused, not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers," Mamdani explained.