President Donald Trump indicated Sunday that he plans to meet with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and said they’ll “work something out,” in what could be a bipartisan breakthrough for the Republican president and Democratic political star who have cast each other as political rivals.
Trump has for months slammed Mamdani, labeling him as a “communist” and predicting the ruin of his hometown, New York, if the far-Left democratic socialist was elected.
Mamdani rose from an obscure state lawmaker to become a social media star during his mayoral campaign. He campaigned on an array of radical leftist policies and a message that was stark in its opposition to the aggressive deportation of illegal immigrants Trump has rolled out in his second White House term.
The 34-year-old defeated one of Democrats political heavyweights, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, by nearly 9 percentage points.
In his election night victory speech, Mamdani said he wanted New York to show the country how to defeat Trump. But the day after, while speaking about his plans for “Trump-proofing” New York once he takes office in January, the incoming mayor also said he was willing to work with anyone, including the president, if it can help New Yorkers.
Representatives for Mamdani did not have an immediate comment Sunday night on the president’s remarks, but a spokesperson pointed to the mayor-elect’s remarks last week when he said he planned to reach out to the White House “because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of the city.”
Trump expressed a similar sentiment on Sunday.
“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us. We’ll work something out,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to fly back to Washington after spending the weekend in Florida.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified shortly after that Trump was referring to Mamdani and said no date had been set for such a meeting.
“We want to see everything work out well for New York,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments came as he also said the U.S. may hold discussions soon with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, after a military buildup near the South American country: “I’ll talk to anybody,” Trump said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.