U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday that he will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday, setting up the first in-person encounter between two politicians who have spent months attacking each other from a distance.
In a Truth Social post, Trump used some of his sharpest language yet toward the incoming mayor. “Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting. We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st. Further details to follow!” he wrote.
1 View gallery
Donald Trump, Zohran Mamdani
(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/ AP, Alexi J. Rosenfeld / Getty Images/ AFP)
The meeting, long anticipated but repeatedly delayed, could signal either a thaw or an escalation in the rivalry between the Republican president and the Democratic mayor-elect, whose rise from progressive state lawmaker to City Hall stunned New York’s political establishment.
Mamdani has criticized Trump’s record on affordability and housing, making economic pressure on working-class New Yorkers a central theme of his campaign. Trump, for his part, has ridiculed Mamdani’s left-wing platform while simultaneously adopting affordability messaging in recent weeks.
The Friday sit-down is expected to address federal-city cooperation, housing policy, and a potential reboot in relations between Washington and New York’s next mayor. Whether it becomes a breakthrough or a spectacle remains to be seen.