YURI GRIPAS ; POOL/EPA
US President Donald Trump (right) meets with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (left) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA.
Exchanges of smiles, handshakes and friendly claps, after many insults. “Some of his ideas are actually the same as I have,” said Donald Trump at a meeting at the White House.
North American President Donald Trump promised this Friday to help the new symbol of resistance to his power, the elected mayor of New York, the socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani, to make the metropolis “strong and very safe”, by welcoming him to the White House.
After exchanging insults during the campaign for mayor of New York — Trump called him “complete” and “a total nutcase” and Mamdani responded with “fascist” — both presented themselves to journalists at the end of the meeting satisfied with their results. “productive” results of the meeting.
“I think they will have, I hope, a great mayor. The more successful he is, the happier I will be. (…) Let’s help him realize everyone’s dream of having a strong and very safe New York”, said the North American President.
The young mayor, who won the election by a large margin at the beginning of the month, “will do a great job” in New York and “it’s going to surprise some conservative people, actually,” Trump said.
Asked if he would feel comfortable living in the city under the leadership of Mamdani, 34, Trump did not hesitate: “Absolutely, especially after the meeting.”
“I met with a man who really wants New York to be great again”, he said, describing Mamdani as “a very rational person”.
Both claimed to have discussed access to housing and the cost of living, Mamdani’s main campaign theme and used by Trump himself in the 2024 presidential election, in which he defeated Democrat Joe Biden.
“Some of the ideas [de Mamdani] They’re actually the same ones I have.”said Trump about the elected mayor, regarding inflationary issues.
In front of the media, both even demonstrated some familiarity, with frequent exchanges of smiles, several handshakes and friendly pats on the arm. Mamdani described the meeting with the Republican President as “very productive”.
“What I really appreciate about the President is that the meeting we had was not focused on the points of contention, of which there are many, but rather on the common purpose we have to serve New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.
Trump tried to influence the race for mayor of New York, supporting independent and former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo, defeated in , on the eve of the elections, predicting that the city would have “ZERO chance of success, or even survival” if Mamdani won.
He also questioned the citizenship of Mamdani, a Muslim who was born in Uganda and became a naturalized American after graduating from college, and said he would have him arrested if he carried out his threats not to cooperate with immigration agents in the city.
