Nov. 20 (UPI) — President Donald Trump announced he will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday.
Trump made the announcement on his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday.
“Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting. We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st,” Trump said in the brief statement.
Mamdani was elected mayor Nov. 4, besting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, historically a Democrat who ran as an independent with Trump’s endorsement, after losing the Democratic nomination to Mamdani.
Trump has been a vocal critic of Mamdani, and warned ahead of the election that if Mamdani won he would throttle federal funding to the city, calling him a “Communist Lunatic” who is “going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great city.”
Trump also threatened to arrest Mamdani if he interfered with his federal immigration crackdown in New York City.
During the campaign, Mamdani positioned himself as someone who would stand up to Trump. A self-described social democrat, Mamdani has warned Trump against threatening to impose punitive measures against the city.
In his victory speech, Mamdani addressed Trump directly: “Hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed in a statement that the meeting had been scheduled.
“As is customary for an incoming mayoral administration, the Mayor-elect plans to meet with the President in Washington to discuss public safety, economic security and the affordability agenda that over 1 million New Yorkers voted for just two weeks ago,” Pekec said.
In a Wednesday night interview with MS NOW, Mamdani said they did “reach out” to the White House to speak with Trump about fulfilling the campaign pledges he made to New Yorkers.
“I want to just speak plainly to the president about what it means to actually stand up for new Yorkers and the way in which New Yorkers are struggling to afford this city,” he said.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters that the White House was working on arranging a meeting with Mamdani.
“We’ll work something out,” Trump said. “We want to see everything work out well for New York.”