Trump and Mamdani go from adversaries to allies after White House meeting

"We agree on a lot more than I would have thought," Trump said, after calling a "very productive meeting" and stating that the two political adversaries shared one belief: the prosperity of New York City.

President Donald Trump has called New York City's Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani a "100% Communist Lunatic" and a “total nut job.” Mamdani has called Trump’s administration “authoritarian" and described himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”

The two met for the first time on Friday. And the meeting seemed to be anything but nightmare for either side. The White House meeting had potential to be a curious and combustible affair. Mamdani arrived around 3 p.m., but the fireworks and dramatics never came to be.

The Oval Office meeting lasted for about half an hour, after which Trump offered his congratulations to Mamdani on his election victory, and spoke openly of how impressed he was with the man who had previously called his administration “authoritarian.”

The Republican president and the Democratic mayor were warm and friendly, speaking repeatedly of their shared goals to help Trump's hometown rather than their combustible differences.

"We agree on a lot more than I would have thought," Trump said, after calling a "very productive meeting" and stating that the two political adversaries shared one belief.

"We want this city of ours that we love to do very well," the president said. "We talked about some things in very strong common like housing and getting housing built, and food and prices, and the price of oil is coming way down. Anything I do is going to be good for New York...The better he does, the happier I am."

There were smiles, handshakes and jovial pats on the arm, as Mamdani stood alongside Trump seated at the desk, facing reporters. Trump said of Mamdani, "I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually."

Mamdani thanked the president for the meeting, and said they did not focus their time together on "places of disagreement, which there are many," but rather honed in on the topic of affordability.

"We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out," said Mamdani.

The cordiality of the meeting came as somewhat of a surprise, given the months months of casting each other as prime adversaries. But the Republican president and new Democratic star indicated an openness to finding areas of agreement that help the city they’ve both called home.

For Mamdani, a sit-down with the president of the United States offered the state lawmaker who until recently was relatively unknown the chance to go head-to-head with the most powerful person in the world. The meeting gave Trump a high-profile chance to talk about affordability at a time when he’s under increasing political pressure to show he’s addressing voter concerns about the cost of living.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who takes office in January, said he sought the meeting with Trump to talk about ways to make New York City more affordable. Trump has said he may want to help him out — although he has also falsely labeled Mamdani as a “communist” and threatened to yank federal funds from his hometown.

Until now, the men have been political foils who galvanized their supporters by taking on each other, and it's unclear how those backers will react to their genial get-together and complimentary words.

“We’re going to be helping him, to make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York,” the president said.

“What I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

'I’ll stick up for you'

Mamdani and Trump said they discussed housing affordability and the cost of groceries and utilities, as Mamdani successfully used frustration over inflation to get elected, just as the president did in the 2024 election.

“Some of his ideas are really the same ideas that I have,” the president said of Mamdani about inflationary issues.

The president brushed aside Mamdani's criticisms of him over his administration's deportation raids and claims that Trump was behaving like a despot. Instead, Trump said the responsibility of holding an executive position in the government causes a person to change, saying that had been the case for him.

He seemed at times even protective of Mamdani, jumping in on his behalf at several points. For example, when reporters asked Mamdani to clarify his past statements indicating that he thought the president was acting like a fascist, Trump said, “I’ve been called much worse than a despot.”

When a reporter asked if Mamdani stood by his comments that Trump is a fascist, Trump interjected before the mayor-elect could fully answer the question.

“That’s OK. You can just say yes. OK?” Trump said. “It’s easier. It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”

Trump stepped in again when a reporter asked Mamdani why he flew to Washington instead of taking transportation that used less fossil fuels.

“I’ll stick up for you," Trump said.

All about affordability

Mamdani, who takes office in January, said he sought the meeting with Trump to talk about ways to make New York City more affordable. Trump has said he may want to help him out — although he has also falsely labeled Mamdani as a “communist” and threatened to yank federal funds from the city.

But Trump on Friday didn't sling that at the mayor. He acknowledged that he had said he had been prepared to cut off funding or make it harder for New York City to access federal resources if the two had failed to “get along.”

But the president pulled back from those threats, saying: “We don’t want that to happen. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Trump loomed large over the mayoral race this year, and on the eve of the election, he endorsed independent candidate and former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, predicting the city has “ZERO chance of success, or even survival” if Mamdani won. He also questioned the citizenship of Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a naturalized American citizen after graduating from college, and said he'd have him arrested if he followed through on threats not to cooperate with immigration agents in the city.

Mamdani beat back a challenge from Cuomo, painting him as a “puppet” for the president, and promised to be “a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump and actually deliver.” He declared during one primary debate, "I am Donald Trump’s worst nightmare, as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in.”

The president, who has long used political opponents to fire up his backers, predicted Mamdani “will prove to be one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party.” As Mamdani upended the Democratic establishment by defeating Cuomo and his far-left progressive policies provoked infighting, Trump repeatedly has cast Mamdani as the face of Democratic Party.

Trump says he’d live in Mamdani’s New York

Since the self-described democratic socialist’s election, several conservatives have suggested that middle class and wealthy New Yorkers may want to leave the city. But Trump isn’t one of them.

Asked if he’d be comfortable living in the city under the incoming mayor, the president said: “I really would, especially after the meeting,” Trump said.

He added that he picked up a lot of votes from Sen. Bernie Sanders, another self-described democratic socialist who unsuccessfully competed for the Democratic presidential nominations in 2016 and 2020.

“Bernie Sanders and I agreed on much more than people thought,” Trump said.

ConEd takes a hit

The big loser in the meeting between Trump and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani might be Consolidated Edison Inc., the New York City energy and utility company.

ConEd stock fell from $102.28, when the two began taking reporters’ questions, to close at $100.16. That was a 2% drop in roughly 15 minutes.

What spooked investors? Probably what Trump said.

“Remember, we talked about Con Edison,” the president said. “We’ve gotten fuel prices way down, but it hasn’t shown up in Con Edison. And we’re going to have to talk to them.”

Trump said ConEd has to lower its rates.

“Absolutely,” Mamdani said.

In a statement, Con Edison said they "recognize affordability is a critical issue and work every day to balance the investments needed for resilience and reliability with customer costs.  We welcome the opportunity to partner with the Mayor-elect on solutions that make New York affordable for everyone."

No remarks from Mamdani in park near White House

Following his Oval Office meeting with Trump, Mamdani had been headed to talk to reporters in the park across the street from the White House.

But an official with his team told those gathered that the space was “not secure enough,” and canceled the gaggle.

It had been a scrum being organized on the fly, as teams of journalists hurried from the White House driveway space where many visitors speak with reporters after their meetings inside.

Curious onlookers had also clung around the fringes, hoping for a glimpse of the mayor-elect. As there are many days outside the White House, there were also several people — one in a hot pink, inflatable amphibious costume — waving signs bearing messages about a variety of unrelated issues including immigration enforcement and vaccination.

Oval Office drama nonexistent

Cameras were not present during the meeting, though a small pool of reporters were welcomed into the Oval Office after 3:30 p.m.

It was a far cry from other, much more dramatic public Oval Office faceoffs the president has had this year, including an infamously heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in March. In May, Trump dimmed the lights while meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and played a four-minute video making widely rejected claims that South Africa is violently persecuting the country’s white Afrikaner minority farmers.

Mamdani said Thursday that he was not concerned about the president potentially trying to use the meeting to publicly embarrass him and said he saw it as a chance to make his case, even while acknowledging “many disagreements with the president.”

Instead, both men avoided a public confrontation in a remarkably calm and cordial series of comments in front of news reporters. Tensions were subdued Friday as Trump seemed sympathetic to Mamdani's policies to want to build more housing.

“People would be shocked, but I want to see the same thing,” the president said.

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.