New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said on Tuesday that he plans to call President Donald Trump before taking office and added that the relationship “will be critical to the success of the city.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Mamdani’s comments emerge amid heightened tensions between city leadership and federal authorities, particularly regarding the possible deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents or National Guard troops.
Mamdani’s democratic socialist platform, coupled with Trump’s public criticism of the incoming administration, highlights growing policy and political divides likely to affect millions of New Yorkers as federal-local dynamics intensify following Mamdani’s election win.
What To Know
Mamdani said in an interview with NBC New York on Tuesday that he “will be reaching out to the White House as we prepare to actually take office because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of the city.”
He added that he will be “proactive” in attempts to dissuade the administration from sending ICE agents and National Guard troops into the Big Apple.
“I’ll say that I’m here to work for the benefit of everyone who calls the city home and that wherever there is a possibility for working together towards that end, I’m ready,” Mamdani said, in a preview of what he’d speak to the president about. “And if it’s to the expense of those New Yorkers, I will fight it.”
Trump had urged New York City residents to vote for former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate, in the mayoral election and threatened to potentially withhold funding for the city if Mamdani won.
Mamdani enters office as the youngest mayor of New York in over a century and the city’s first Muslim mayor, following a record turnout in the election. His policy platform centers on combating affordability crises through measures such as universal child care, free buses, and raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
What People Are Saying
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said on X earlier this month: “In 2024, Republicans promised to lower the cost of groceries. In 2025, they’re shrugging it off, saying ‘food prices always go up.’ For too long, government’s failure to deliver has been treated as inevitable. My administration will prove that government can work for you.”
President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this month: “[Mamdani] has to be a little bit respectful of Washington. Because if he’s not, he doesn’t have a chance of succeeding, and I want to make him succeed, I want to make the city succeed…And we’ll see what happens.”
What Happens Next
Mamdani’s mayoral inauguration is on January 1, 2026.
Update 11/11/25, 4:34 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.