President Donald Trump agreed on Sunday to give New York City mayor-elect Zorhan Mamdani an audience.
“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us, we’ll work something out. But he would like to come to Washington,” Trump said during an impromptu news briefing with reporters on the tarmac of Palm Beach International Airport before boarding Air Force One back to Washington after spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Up to now, the two men have traded barbs through the press and social media, with Trump often referring to Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, as a “communist.”
The mayor-elect has had his own choice words for the president, addressing him directly during his acceptance speech after winning the Nov. 4 election.
“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” he said at the podium. “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”
On Sunday, Mamdani responded to news of an increase in parcel fees in the U.S. Postal Service with another slam on the president.
“The Trump administration continues to find new ways to raise costs on all of us. It’s time we have a City Hall that works relentlessly to ease the burden,” the incoming mayor posted on X. “We will deliver on fast and free buses, universal childcare and a rent freeze because New Yorkers need the relief.”
During Sunday’s announcement, the president gave no indication of when the meeting would happen or what would be on the agenda.
He did say that he was rooting for the city.
“We want to see everything work out well for New York,” Trump said.