New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Saturday that he still believes President Donald Trump is a \u201cfascist\u201d and a \u201cdespot,\u201d but he viewed their first face-to-face meeting at the White House on Friday as an \u201copportunity\u201d to work together on lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers.<\/p>\n
After months of trading insults during the campaign, the two were friendly during the meeting, with the president telling reporters he\u2019ll be \u201ccheering\u201d for Mamdani, and the mayor-elect calling the meeting \u201cproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following their meeting, Mamdani was asked by reporters if he stood by his decision to call Trump a \u201cfascist\u201d during his campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s OK, you can just say it,\u201d Trump\u00a0told him, jokingly. \u201cIt\u2019s easier, it\u2019s easier than explaining it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Mamdani told \u201cMeet the Press\u201d moderator Kristen Welker that he does still believe the president is a fascist.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter President Trump said that, I said, \u2018Yes,\u2019\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019ve said in the past and I say today. And I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment, and we also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver on a shared analysis of an affordability crisis for New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani referenced other past negative comments about Trump, telling Welker, \u201cEverything that I\u2019ve said in the past, I continue to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not coming into the Oval Office to make a point or make a stand. I\u2019m coming in there to deliver for New Yorkers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The mayor-elect also spoke about his attitude going into the meeting and why it ended up so friendly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought again and again about what it would mean for New Yorkers if we could establish a productive relationship that would focus on the issues that those New Yorkers stay up late at night thinking about,\u201d rather than keep trading barbs, Mamdani told Welker.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you actually ask New Yorkers and you listen to them, you hear it come back to the issues that animated not just the conversation the president and I had with the press after our meeting, but frankly, in the meeting itself,\u201d Mamdani added.<\/p>\n
The mayor-elected pointed to Trump\u2019s own campaign message last year, which included promises to lower costs for Americans on Day 1 of his second term.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Mamdani said he went out of his way during the mayoral campaign to speak to New Yorkers living in the Bronx and Queens who had voted for Trump in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cI shared with the president that when I asked those New Yorkers why did they vote for the president, they told me again and again, it was cost of living, cost of living, cost of living,\u201d the mayor-elect said. \u201cAnd when the president and I were speaking, we were speaking about what is preventing from delivering on that affordability agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Trump frequently bashed Mamdani online, calling him a \u201ccommunist lunatic\u201d and\u00a0threatening\u00a0to cut off federal funding for New York City if voters elected Mamdani, who refers to himself as a democratic socialist. Mamdani often shot back, once calling Trump a \u201cdespot.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday, after reporters\u00a0asked\u00a0the pair about that particular insult, the president said, \u201cI\u2019ve been called much worse than a despot,\u201d adding, \u201cI think he\u2019ll change his mind after we get to working together.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the eve of the election, Trump even\u00a0endorsed\u00a0Mamdani\u2019s strongest opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat-turned-independent who ran in the general election after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0his victory speech, Mamdani spoke forcefully against the Trump administration, promising that \u201cNew York will be the light\u201d in political darkness and telling Trump to \u201cturn the volume up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamdani said Saturday that he and the president also spoke about Trump\u2019s threats to send National Guard troops into New York City, as he\u2019s done in several other major Democratic-led cities in recent months.<\/p>\n
Mamdani didn\u2019t answer questions about whether Trump ruled out the possibility of sending troops to New York City, but said, \u201cWhat I told him is that what separates New York City from anywhere else in the country is we have the NYPD, and I trust the NYPD to deliver public safety, and to me, that is something that I know that they can do, that they have done, and they will continue to do under my leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked at the White House on Saturday whether he planned to send troops to New York City, Trump said simply, \u201cIf they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, other places need it more, but if they need \u2014 we had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that, but if they need it, I would do it,\u201d Trump told reporters.<\/p>\n
One of Mamdani\u2019s key campaign promises was to raise taxes on the city\u2019s highest earners to fund key policy objectives. To do so, he\u2019ll need the blessing of Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislators in Albany.<\/p>\n
The mayor-elect didn\u2019t answer questions about whether Hochul has committed to helping him raise taxes, but said the two are both committed to making New York City more affordable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think she\u2019ll work with me to deliver on affordability. I think raising taxes make the most sense,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cIf there\u2019s any alternatives that raise the same amount of money, I\u2019m open.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Mamdani also spoke about his relationship with the nation\u2019s Democratic leaders.<\/p>\n
In the months leading up to the election, many were hesitant to endorse the self-described democratic socialist. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., never endorsed Mamdani, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., only did so less than two weeks before Election Day.<\/p>\n
Still, Mamdani last week\u00a0urged\u00a0members of New York\u2019s Democratic Socialists of America chapter not to endorse a primary challenger to Jeffries.<\/p>\n
And on Saturday, Mamdani told \u201cMeet the Press\u201d that he supports Jeffries becoming the speaker of the House if Democrats retake the majority in the 2026 midterm elections.<\/p>\n
Mamdani also spoke about his conversation with former President Barack Obama after his victory, saying the two spoke about \u201cthe importance of what it looks like, not only to inspire hope, but to sustain it, and then to deliver on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article was originally published on\u00a0NBCNews.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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