November 18, 2025 | 01:53 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - US President Donald Trump signaled on Sunday, November 16, 2025, that he plans to meet with the mayor-elect of New York City, Zohran Mamdani. Trump said they would seek a way out, which could be a way to ease tensions between the Republican president and the Democratic political figure who have cast each other as political opponents.
As reported by NDTV, Trump has been criticizing Mamdani for months. He has also labeled Zohran Mamdani as a "communist" and predicted the destruction of his hometown, New York, if the Democratic socialist figure were to be elected. He has also threatened to deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and naturalized as a US citizen, and withdraw federal funds from the city.
"The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us. We'll work something out," Trump told reporters as he prepared to fly back to Washington after spending the weekend in Florida.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified immediately after that Trump was referring to Mamdani and said there has been no set date for such a meeting. "We want to see everything work out well for New York," Trump said.
Zohran Mamdani is a relatively unknown state assemblyman who has risen to become a social media star and a symbol of resistance to Trump during his mayoral campaign. He campaigned on a series of progressive policies and a strong message against Trump's aggressive and anti-immigrant agenda during his second term in the White House.
The 34-year-old man drew attention from a large part of New York citizens and defeated a well-known political figure, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, by nearly 9 percentage points.
In his victory speech on election night, Mamdani said he wanted New York to show its people how to defeat the president. However, the next day, when talking about his "Trump-proofing" plan after taking office in January, the mayoral candidate also said he was willing to work with anyone, including the president, if it could help the people of New York.
Mamdani's representatives did not provide direct comments on Sunday night regarding the president's statement, but a spokesperson referred to the mayor-elect's statement last week when he said that he planned to contact the White House "because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of the city."
Trump's comments came as he also said the US might soon have discussions with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, following the military buildup near the South American country: "I'll talk to anybody," Trump said.
Editor’s Choice: Jewish New Yorkers Defend Zohran Mamdani Against 'Racist and Islamophobic' ADL Tracking
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