Mamdani gave these women ‘a glimmer of hope’. They helped make him mayor<\/a><\/p>\n Zohran Mamdani’s victory in Tuesday’s New York City mayoral election looked unlikely at one point. Polling shows it was women who helped power him into office.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked about his previous criticisms of Mr Trump, Mr Mamdani responded by saying their meeting “focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many”, but rather “on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers”.<\/p>\n “The meeting came back again and again to what it could look like to lift those New Yorkers out of struggle,” Mr Mamdani said.<\/p>\n Mr Trump added: “I’ve been called much worse than a despot, so it’s not that insulting, but maybe, I think, he’ll change his mind after we get to working together.”<\/p>\n When a Fox News reporter pressed Mr Mamdani about whether he stood by his past attacks on the president, Mr Trump advised his guest to “just say yes” and move on.<\/p>\n Donald Trump said he was confident Zohran Mamdani would make a good mayor. (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)<\/p>\n “It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind,” Mr Trump said, patting Mr Mamdani on the arm.<\/p>\n Earlier on Friday, local time, Mr Trump predicted they would have a “quite civil” meeting.<\/p>\n Mamdani’s victory message to Trump<\/a><\/p>\n After using a Trump-style tactic in his campaign, Zohran Mamdani probably now has the US president’s begrudging respect \u2014 as well as his attention.<\/p>\n The day before, Mr Mamdani described the meeting as “customary”. He said many New Yorkers had voted for both him and Mr Trump because they wanted leaders who would take on the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n “My team reached out to the White House to set up this meeting because I will work with anyone to make life more affordable for the more than 8.5 million people who call this city home,” Mr Mamdani told a press conference.<\/p>\n During the mayoral election campaign, Mr Trump, a New York native, labelled Mr Mamdani a “communist” and said he would ruin the city.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n He endorsed Mr Mamdani’s rival, Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent after he lost the Democratic Party primary to Mr Mamdani.<\/p>\n The mayor-elect had been particularly critical of the Trump administration’s immigration raids and American support for Israel’s attacks on Gaza, labelled genocide by a UN-backed probe<\/a>.<\/p>\n He used his election night victory speech to unload on Mr Trump, pledging to “put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks”.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n His ascent to the mayoralty was widely seen as an unlikely victory by a left-wing grassroots movement over entrenched institutional power and big money.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n