Spike Lee ‘puzzled’ by cordial Trump-Mamdani meeting at White House

Speaking at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday, film director and New York City icon Spike Lee said he was “confused” by the intimate Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at Friday’s joint press conference.

Some viewers of Friday’s press conference, including Trump critic Lee, were surprised by the friendly nature of the meeting between the two men, who have been engaged in a war of words since Mamdani ran for mayor.

“[During the election, Trump] He called her a communist and said New York City would be wasted,” Lee said at the festival press conference. Reported by Variety. “I mean, the President said he was going to cut federal funding. Judging by what was said leading up to this quick turnaround… I’m confused.”

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The film director continued by recalling Trump’s previous warnings about what would happen to New York City if Mamdani won the mayoralty.

“Look back and see what the President said about him and see if [Mamdani] won, it seems… It seems like they found some common ground,” he said.

Turning his attention to others who predicted the city would be a disaster if Mamdani became mayor, Lee said, “There were a lot of people saying they would leave New York City if Mamdani won. Now, if anyone is actually leaving, I really want the real numbers!”

Before the presidential election in 2024, Lee called Trump’s re-election possibility is a ‘doomsday’ scenario.

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Although many expected fireworks at Friday’s joint news conference, the two found unity during the meeting, with Trump telling the media that the two shared a mission for a better New York City.

“We have something in common,” Trump said Friday. “We want this city that we love to do great things. And I wanted to congratulate the mayor, too. He ran an incredible race against a lot of really smart people, starting in the first primaries against some very tough people, very smart people. And he beat them, and he beat them handily. And I congratulated him, and we talked about some very strong commonalities, like housing and building housing, providing food and prices.”

President Donald Trump met with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani for the first time in the Oval Office on Friday. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

The president and the mayor-elect met at the White House on Friday afternoon and then opened the doors of the Oval Office to take questions from the media. Trump predicted that his hometown of New York will have a “great mayor” and stated that the White House will also be there to support.

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“I hope you have a really great mayor, and the better he is, the happier I will be,” Trump said. “I will say that there is no difference in the party, there is no difference in anything. And we will help him to achieve everyone’s dream, to have a strong and very safe New York.”

As Trump remained seated during the press event, Mamdani stood next to him and asked a series of questions. While the duo had a hopeful outlook on the future, Trump argued that despite their political differences, they would work together and also share some priorities, such as affordability and lowering the cost of living for Americans.

President Donald Trump meets with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 21, 2025. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)

The mayor-elect added that he appreciated the meeting and said it focused largely on how to make New York City better and help families struggling with costs.

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Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.