President Donald Trump met with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) in New York City on Monday, upon arriving in the Big Apple for the United Nations General Assembly this week.
Trump told reporters that he hopes Mamdani turns out to “be a great” mayor and said he is “off to a start.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. I’ve been at Gracie Mansion — we were discussing — quite a few times over the years, a lot, and it sort of feels like a home, and it’s a special place, a very special, a beautiful place when you go inside,” Trump said.
“And I’ve seen it with numerous different mayors, and I’ve seen some great ones and some not so great ones. So hopefully, you’re going to be a great one. I’ll be able to say you’re going to be a great one, and you’re off to a start. So I just want to thank the mayor for the invitation,” he added.
Mamdani said he and Trump discussed how to improve New Yorkers’ lives.
“Each time the president and I speak, it is about the same topics: how to improve the lives of New Yorkers, and how to use the power of government to take on the cost of living crisis, to grow our economy, and to build a better, stronger New York,” he said.
This is the third meeting between Trump and Mamdani. Breitbart News was on hand in the Oval Office when they first met in person last November, and while the president has labeled Mamdani a “communist,” even nicknaming him “my little communist,” the interaction was much more amicable than anticipated.
When Breitbart News asked Trump if Mamdani is the leader of the Democratic Party and the minority leaders in both chambers of Congress need to follow his lead, he laughed and threw the question to the mayor.
“This is a man that, right now I think, is focused on New York City,” Trump said. “I really think there’s a chance to do a great job. We’re going to help him, but I really think he has a chance to do a great job, but I’ll let you answer that: Do you consider yourself the leader of the Democrats? I think it’s more appropriate for him.”
Mamdani did not speak on what he thinks his status in the party is.
“I consider myself the next mayor of New York City, and I keep my horizons firmly on New York City, and I appreciate the meeting with the president, which focused again on the five boroughs and whether New Yorkers could afford to live there,” he said.
