Trump signals he may soon meet with political adversary Zohran Mamdani

Donald Trump has signaled that he may soon meet with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, telling reporters that Mamdani “would like to meet with us”, adding, “we’ll work something out” despite being political polar opposites who have shared sharp words for each other previously.

“He would like to come to Washington and meet, and we’ll work something out,” the US president said late on Sunday, referring to Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist and former state assemblymember who won the New York City mayoral election earlier this month. “We want to see everything work out well for New York.”

Mamdani’s representatives did not respond for comment on Monday morning about Trump’s remarks, but in an interview with NBC last week, Mamdani said that he planned to reach out to the White House as he prepares to take office “because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of the city”.

“I will be proactive in the work that I do” Mamdani said. “And I think that is because of the responsibility that I hold to eight and a half million people of being their mayor, it is important that you are open to working with anyone, no matter what disagreements you may have.”

Asked what he would tell Trump, Mamdani said he would say: “I’m here to work for the benefit of everyone that calls this city home, and wherever there is a possibility for working together towards that end, I’m ready, and if it’s to the expense of those New Yorkers, I will fight it.”

The potential meeting between Trump and Mamdani comes as Trump frequently criticized and attacked Mamdani during his campaign, calling him a “communist lunatic”, threatening to pull federal funding from the city if he won, and even suggesting the possibility of stripping Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and later naturalized as a US citizen, of his citizenship – a threat that Mamdani condemned as not just “an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you”.

Trump also endorsed Mamdani’s opponent, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran an independent campaign for mayor, after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani.

Throughout the race, Mamdani forcefully criticized Trump and his policies, including his administration’s immigration crackdown. But, Mamdani has repeatedly said that if elected, he would work with the president if it meant “delivering on lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers”.

In his victory speech, Mamdani said that “if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him”, adding that “if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.”

“This is not only how we stop Trump; it’s how we stop the next one” he added. “So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”

Later in the speech, he said: “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”

Mamdani will be sworn in as New York City’s 111th mayor on 1 January.