Trump Sets Meeting With Zohran Mamdani — Here’s What NYC’s Incoming Mayor Wants From the White House

President Trump and new NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani will meet. Politics dominate this event. This follows months of public animosity between the two. Friday’s Oval Office meeting was one of the city’s most talked-about during the political transition.

Trump repeatedly called Mamdani a “communist” while running for mayor, but on Wednesday he said he had requested the meeting. The president even chose former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo over his own party’s candidate. He opposes Mamdani’s project.

He later said he reached out and that the decision was based on a campaign promise. The new mayor told a national news show that he owed New Yorkers the duty to work with anyone who could lower city living costs.

He says the meeting is about what New York City’s 8.5 million residents need, not politics. He reiterated that his campaign’s most important messages were about affordability. These included rising rents, childcare, utility costs, and daily transportation costs. Many complaints came from Trump supporters.

In the nation’s most expensive city, families are struggling to make ends meet, workers are working two or more jobs, and longtime residents are afraid they will have to move due to the cost of living. He wants to demonstrate that lowering the cost of living is a policy issue and a way to keep New Yorkers in their neighborhoods.

The new mayor also said low wages helped New Yorkers vote for Trump. She hopes the president understands how these issues affect the city. The Friday Mamdani meeting will be more stressful due to rent, public transit, and utility bills.

This meeting is one of the few times during a government change that people work together. The meeting could create new rules or address another major political issue. Mamdani wants to speak out for New Yorkers stressed by the rising cost of living.

He informed the White House that this meeting is about New Yorkers who want to stay.