By: Victoria Keraj and Rami Mansi
During Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for Mayor of New York City (NYC), President Donald Trump had immediately taken a stance against Mamdani. Making statements and social media posts that point out Mamdani’s policies, which he interpreted as “communist” policies, and implied that he would withdraw funds from NYC if Mamdani were to be elected.
On Nov. 21, Mamdani and Trump met in the Oval Office and shared a private conversation. The White House posted a video in which Trump and Mamdani answered questions after concluding their meeting.
“We have one thing in common. We want this city of ours that we love to do very well,” Trump told the press after calling the meeting “great” and “very productive.”
Trump has previously been antagonistic towards democratic officials who refused to cooperate with his administration’s efforts to deport immigrants from sanctuary states.
Trump has also deployed the national guard to five Democratic states, along with Washington D.C, according to Democracy Docket, which also documented Trump’s threats to send troops to NYC.
People took to social media to share their surprised reactions. Two political figures on opposite ends of the political spectrum, who have been sharing negative comments about each other since earlier this year, had a seemingly productive and beneficial conversation by finding a common ground.
Reporters tested this common ground. When asked by a reporter how the two would reconcile their opposing views on deploying Immigration officers and national guard forces, Trump stated, “We’re gonna work together, and we’re gonna make sure that if they are horrible people, then we want to get them out. I think he wants to get them out more than I do. So we’ll work together. We discussed it at great length.”
During his campaign, Mamdani promised to stand up to Trump and called him a fascist. Despite Mamdani reaffirming his statements on NBC’s Meet the Press, he did not directly call out Trump as a fascist.
Mamdani instead chose to share the following sentiment: “I 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.”
As previously covered by The Vanguard, a campaign focused on affordability was what won voters over for Mamdani and democratic candidates running in other states on election day.
In their interview at the White House, Mamdani emphasized that New Yorkers who had voted for Trump in 2024 said they did so because of their economic concerns.
“When we spoke to those voters who voted for President Trump, we heard them speak about the cost of living. We focused on that same cost of living, and that’s where I’m really looking forward to delivering for New Yorkers in partnership with the president on the affordability agenda,” Mamdani stated.
This conversation opens the door for new questions and concerns about NYC moving forward.
How does a republican president come to share ideas and speak with a democratic socialist?