President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani agreed to work together on an agenda to help improve the lives of New Yorkers.

“I want to congratulate him,” the president said at a press conference in the Oval Office after the private meeting with Mamdani. The relationship between the two appeared friendly. "I think you will, hopefully, have an excellent mayor. The better he does, the happier I will be. I will say there is no party difference. There is no difference in anything, and we will help him make everyone's dream a reality: to have a strong and very safe New York. Congratulations!" Mandani listened as the president stood beside him, looking at him, and thanked him for the meeting. "I appreciate the meeting with the President. As he himself mentioned, it was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love: the city of New York," Mandani said. “We talked about the need to provide affordable housing for New Yorkers, all eight and a half million people… We talked about rent, food, utilities, and the various ways people are forced to leave.” Both acknowledged their differences, but even when Trump was questioned about his reference to Mamdani as “a communist,” he sought to downplay the situation. "He has his opinions, but who knows? We'll see what works and who changes. Besides, we all change. I've changed a lot since I took office," he stated. "And I can tell you that some of my opinions have changed, and we had conversations about some issues, and I'm going to explain what they were, but I have a lot of confidence that he can do a very good job. I think he's going to surprise some conservatives, in fact, some liberals as well." Mandani agreed with the Republican president, who even said in one of his last television interviews that he preferred to vote for former Governor Andrew Cuomo rather than Mandani. The mayor-elect of New York repeatedly emphasized his points of agreement with Trump, setting aside their differences. “I think both President Trump and I have very clear positions and points of view, and what I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting we had focused not on the points of disagreement, which are many,but on the common purpose we have of serving New Yorkers,” Mamdani added. “The meeting revolved repeatedly around how we could lift those New Yorkers out of poverty and begin to provide them with a city where not only is it cost-effective to live, but where they can truly begin to thrive.” Affordability was a key issue. Mandani emphasized that the cost of housing, goods, and services are concerns for New Yorkers in general, even those who voted for Trump in 2024. The president repeatedly acknowledged the social democrat's remarks, noting that while he won as a Democrat, he voted for the Workers' Party “In fact, I told the President that much of our campaign has focused on the cost-of-living crisis. And when we asked New Yorkers who voted for the president, seeing an increase in his popularity in New York City, the conversation revolved around the same theme: the cost of living,” Mandani recalled. “They talked about the cost of food, rent, electricity, and childcare.”

He added that the meeting with Trump helped them both reach common ground: improving the living conditions of New Yorkers, “in terms of affordability,” Mamdani noted.

During his campaign, the social democrat focused on affordability in housing and services, such as public transportation.

What will happen with ICE in New York?

In his victory speech on November 4, Mamdani pointed out that New York was “a city of immigrants” and during his campaign he rejected the persecution of people by immigration agents.

President Trump was questioned about the operations of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in the Big Apple and revealed that the conversation with Mamdani focused largely on security, but there was no direct reference to immigrants.

“And I think “If we have known murderers, known drug dealers, and very bad people, we want to get them out of here,” Trump said. “And the mayor wants—in fact, we've talked about this a lot; perhaps more than anything—he wants a safe New York. Ultimately, a safe New York will be a great New York. If it's not safe, it doesn't matter how well we do with prices and everything else; if there aren't safe streets, it's not going to be a success. So we're going to work together.” The perspective outlined by Trump seems to indicate that ICE would focus on specific cases, on people with criminal records, not just any undocumented immigrants, but that wasn't specified. “We will make sure that…”If there are bad people here, let's get them out. “So we'll work together,” Trump added.

New Democratic leader?

Trump even suggested that Mamdani should be considered the new leader of the Democratic Party, but the mayor-elect smiled and said he would focus on his work leading New York City,where even Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not openly support him during his campaign.

Unlike Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries offered lukewarm support to Mamdani, but only near the end of the election.

“We talk about the mayor-elect as the true leader of the Democratic Party,” Trump declared.

One of the questions posed to both leaders concerned the possible arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he travels to New York. They acknowledged that the topic was not addressed directly, although the conflict in Gaza and ceasefire efforts were.

“The Israeli government is committing genocide, and I have spoken about how our government is funding it,” Mamdani stated. “I shared with the President at our meeting the concern of many New Yorkers that their taxes be used for the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to live with dignity… There is an urgent need not only for human rights to be respected, but also for the promises we have made to New Yorkers to be kept.” also for the promises we have made to New Yorkers to be kept.”“I shared with the President at our meeting the concern of many New Yorkers that their taxes be used for the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to live with dignity… There is an urgent need not only for human rights to be respected, but also for the promises we have made to New Yorkers to be kept.”but also for the promises we have made to New Yorkers to be kept.”“I shared with the President at our meeting the concern of many New Yorkers that their taxes be used for the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to live with dignity… There is an urgent need not only for human rights to be respected, but also for the promises we have made to New Yorkers to be kept.”but also for the promises we have made to New Yorkers to be kept.”“I shared with the President at our meeting the concern of many New Yorkers that their taxes be used for the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to live with dignity… There is an urgent need not only for human rights to be respected, but also for the promises we have made to New Yorkers to be kept.”

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