Zohran Mamdani says he wants to talk affordability with Trump and isn’t worried he’s walking into a trap
Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, is set to travel to Washington on Friday to meet Trump, a potentially explosive duo of polar opposite politicians who have been at odds for months.
At a news conference outside New York City Hall, Mamdani said he hoped to “share the facts about the economic crisis in the city” while dispelling the idea that the president could use the meeting to embarrass himself.
“I have many disagreements with the president, and I believe we need to be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that can make our city affordable for every New Yorker,” he said.
Mamdani won a stunning victory in the New York City mayoral race this month with a campaign that focused heavily on the city’s affordability crisis and aimed to shift the power of government to helping the working class while also combating the hostile Trump administration.
Trump has railed against Mamdani for months, warning that his hometown would descend into chaos under the leadership of young progressives and suggesting he would withhold federal money from the city if Mamdani wins. Trump also falsely called her a communist and threatened to deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda but became an American citizen in 2018. The president announced the meeting in a social media post Wednesday night, putting Mamdani’s middle name, Kwame, in quotation marks while mistakenly referring to him as the “Communist Mayor of New York City.” Mamdani dismissed the idea of having a contentious meeting with Trump, telling reporters on Thursday: “This meeting does not interest me. I see this meeting as an opportunity to put forward my opinion and I will present it to everyone.”
When pressed further, Mamdani said he would make it clear to the president that he was there as a representative of the city and not just as a political newcomer.
“For me, this is not about myself. This is about the relationship between New York City and the White House, the president and the federal administration. And I will try to make it clear that my interest goes beyond any individual, but it is for the people I intend to represent,” he said.
Asked whether he would bring up the president’s threats to increase enforcement against immigrants in New York, Mamdani tried to return to the affordability argument.
“I think affordability was at the heart of our campaign, and it was also affordability based on the value of protecting every single New Yorker,” he said. “This means protecting them from price gouging in their lives, but it also means protecting them from ICE agents and making it clear that I will seek to represent each and every person.”
Mamdani will take office as mayor next year, replacing current Mayor Eric Adams, who traveled abroad and posted a photo with an Uzbek official on Thursday morning
