President Donald Trump and New York City’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, are set to meet at the White House on Friday, marking the first high-profile Oval Office meeting between a U.S. president and an incoming NYC mayor in years. The encounter comes after months of public sparring between the two political figures during New York’s contentious mayoral race.
Mamdani, 34, a Democratic socialist and former state assemblyman, won the New York City mayoral election earlier this month with a nine-point victory over former governor Andrew Cuomo. Once relatively unknown outside the city, he has quickly become a prominent national figure following his surprise primary win in June and subsequent general election triumph.
Trump, in a statement, claimed that the “communist mayor” requested the meeting—language consistent with the president’s frequent attacks on Mamdani throughout the campaign. The mayor-elect’s spokesperson, Dora Pekec, however, described the sit-down as a standard step for any incoming administration.
“The Mayor-elect plans to meet with the President in Washington to discuss public safety, economic security and the affordability agenda that over one million New Yorkers voted for,” she said.
Unlike Mamdani, his predecessors Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams rarely had solo Oval Office visits, typically appearing alongside other mayors during broader policy discussions.
The tension between Trump and Mamdani escalated during the final weeks of the election. Trump endorsed Cuomo, portraying Mamdani as a radical extremist while suggesting he lacked real work experience. He even threatened to withhold federal funding from New York City if Mamdani won.
Mamdani fired back on election night, telling Trump to “turn the volume up” on his television. Trump quickly responded online: “…AND SO IT BEGINS!”
As Mamdani prepares to take office, he has vowed to challenge Trump’s federal policies especially on immigration promising New York will “remain a city of immigrants” even as the administration intensifies national crackdowns.
The upcoming meeting could set the tone for a combative relationship between City Hall and the White House.
