Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday touted her advice to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as helping lead to his surprisingly cordial meeting with President Trump — and possibly protecting the Big Apple from federal intervention.
Hochul revealed she talked to Mamdani before Friday’s high-stakes White House sitdown and told him he needed to ensure Trump had “confidence” in his leadership to keep the president from sending the National Guard into New York City.
“He has already hit the ground running,” she said of Mamdani. “And I have the confidence in him that I wanted the president to have as well: that we don’t need any interventions.”
The face-to-face between Mamdani and Trump led to a surreal spectacle in the Oval Office, in which a clearly impressed president lauded the Democratic socialist upstart who unapologetically called him a “fascist.”
Trump even backed off his threat to send the National Guard because Mamdani convinced him of his commitment to keeping crime down, in part by retaining NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help because I want New York City to be great,” Trump said.
Hochul said she also told Mamdani to focus on areas of potential collaboration with Trump, citing her own talks with the president that led the feds to take over the long-stalled Penn Station revamp.
The governor wouldn’t go so far as to say that Trump won’t resurrect — and follow through on — his threat to cut off federal funding for New York City.
“But I believe we are in a better place this Monday [than] we were Friday going into that meeting,” she said during an unrelated press conference in the Bronx.
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“The president had a chance to see someone as I have — who has the capacity and the vision that the city needs at this time.”
Mamdani called Hochul the day after the meeting to “extend his appreciation” for the advice, the governor said.
“I told him I thought he did everything he needed to do to make sure the president has confidence in his leadership,” she said.
