President Donald Trump has signaled he may meet with New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after months of criticism and threats, telling reporters “we’ll work something out.”
“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us,” Trump told reporters Sunday night, referring to the 34-year-old democratic socialist mayor-elect whom he threatened to arrest just months ago in the run-up to New York’s election. He said Mamdani “would like to come to Washington.”
Trump has branded Mamdani as “bad news” and a “total nutjob,” seeking to portray him as the face of an extremist opposition, and repeatedly threatened to stop federal funds from going to New York if Mamdani won the election.
Mamdani, soon to be the city’s first Muslim mayor, has referred to himself as Trump’s “worst nightmare,” and vowed to fight the president “every step of the way.” In response to Trump’s July threat to arrest him if he blocks Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in New York, Mamdani accused the president of attacking democracy.
“We will not accept this intimidation,” said Mamdani, who is of Indian descent but was born in Uganda and moved to the United States at age 7 before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018.
In his acceptance speech earlier this month, Mamdani spoke to the president directly: “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” he said.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said as the global left celebrated his win — which sparked criticism in countries he has criticized, including Israel.
It is unclear when a meeting might take place, but Trump said Sunday that Mamdani “would like to come to Washington.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said no date has been set, the Associated Press reported.
Mamdani will be sworn in as the 111th mayor of New York on Jan. 1.
Representatives for Mamdani and the White House did not immediately return requests for comment early Monday.
Mamdani told NBC New York last week that he would be contacting the White House as he prepares to take office, saying the relationship “will be critical to the success of the city.”
When asked what a conversation with Trump may sound like, Mamdani replied: “I’ll say that I’m here to work for the benefit of everyone who calls the city home and that wherever there is a possibility for working together towards that end, I’m ready,” the Democrat said. “And if it’s to the expense of those New Yorkers, I will fight it.”
The post Trump signals meeting with Mamdani, says ‘we’ll work something out’
appeared first on Washington Post.
