By Ryan Schwach
The first man from Queens to be elected president and the first Queens resident to be elected mayor of New York City met for the first time in the Oval Office on Friday.
President Donald Trump and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani sat down in Washington D.C in a highly anticipated meeting between the two leaders, who sit on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but have both, at one point in their lives, lived in the World’s Borough.
The duo has exchanged no shortage of criticisms of one another over the last several months, and admittedly disagree on myriad issues. However, they had what appeared to be a cordial, and often jarringly jovial discussion, where they talked about the cost of living and how the two can work together going forward.
Both said they were united over a mutual love of New York City. They did not mention Queens.
“We’ve just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting,” said Trump, who was complimentary of the democratic socialist, who just a year ago was a relatively unknown local Queens legislator. “We have one thing in common. We want this city of ours that we love to do very well.”
As Mamdani ran for mayor of New York over the last year, he took shots at Trump, calling the president a “despot” and “authoritarian,” and warned about what he saw as rising tide of facism under Trump’s administration.
Trump repeatedly called Mamdani a communist – which he is not – and took aim at his socialist policy ideas, using words like “lunatic” and “nut-job,” to describe him.
While some viewed the meeting as a political trap intended to embarrass the mayor-elect, much of that negativity and consternation seemed to fall to the wayside as the two appeared by each other’s side.
“I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views,” said Mamdani. “What I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting was focused not on places of disagreement, of which there are many, but also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers.”
Most of the post-meeting press conference centered around where the two agree, and how they intend to work together for the good of New Yorkers.
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought, I want him to do a great job,” said Trump. “We’ll help them do a great job.”
Before the election, Trump threatened to pull federal funding from the city if it elected Mamdani but walked back those threats on Friday.
“New York is at a very critical point, and he does need the help of the federal government to really succeed, and we’re going to be helping him,” Trump said.
Even when reporters asked the two about the negative statements they have made about each other, both fell back on where they agree, and even made light of them. At one point Trump patted Mamdani on the arm and seemed to be alright with the mayor-elect describing him as a fascist.
“It was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers,” Mamdani said. “We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out, and I appreciated the time with the President. I appreciated the conversation. I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.”
The two also discussed potential ICE raids and immigration crackdowns in New York City, an issue they sharply disagree on.
“I think we’re going to work them out,” Trump said of those potential issues over immigration. “What we did is we discussed crime more than ICE, per se, we discussed crime, and he doesn’t want to see crime, and I don’t want to see crime, and I have very little doubt that we’re not going to get along on that issue.”
Trump was complimentary of Mamdani’s upstart campaign, which effectively began about a year ago when Mamdani went to two neighborhoods – one in Queens – where Trump’s support increased in 2024.
