President Trump told reporters Sunday night that NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani “would like to come to Washington” to meet in person, adding that “we’ll work something out.”
“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us,” the president said before flying back to Washington after a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
“We’ll work something out,” Trump added. “But he would like to come to Washington.”
President Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One as he departs Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 16, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that no date had been set for any meeting between the president and the mayor-elect, who will be sworn in on New Year’s Day.
Trump, 79, has for months slammed Mamdani, 34, labeling him as a “communist” and predicting the ruin of his birth city, New York, if the democratic socialist was elected.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani holds a press availability at Roosevelt House at Hunter College on Nov. 10, 2025. Pacific Press/LightRocket via Ge
He also threatened to pull federal money from the city and explore the possibility of a federal takeover.
The mayor-elect told NBC New York in an interview last week that “I will be reaching out to the White House as we prepare to actually take office,” adding that the relationship between the two men “will be critical to the success of the city.”
Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference at the Unisphere on Nov. 5, 2025 in the Queens borough of New York City. Getty Images
“[If] President Trump wants to speak about lowering the cost of living or delivering cheaper groceries, like he ran on [in 2024], I’m there to have that conversation,” said Mamdani. “I’m here to work for the benefit of everyone that calls the city home, and that wherever there is a possibility for working together toward that end, I’m ready, and if [the administration’s policies] are to the expense of those New Yorkers, I will fight.”