Trump Signals Civil Tone Ahead of Meeting With NYC’s Zohran Mamdani

President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani are set to meet at the White House on Friday afternoon for what both sides have described as significant talks about the future of the nation’s largest city, as reported by The New York Post.

The Oval Office meeting, scheduled for 3 p.m., comes just weeks after Mamdani won the November mayoral race. He is slated to be sworn in on Jan. 1, 2026.

Mamdani has said he intends to “speak plainly” with the president about ways to make New York City more affordable, an issue he highlighted heavily throughout his campaign.

The meeting marks the first face-to-face discussion between the two leaders, who have traded criticisms for months.

During the campaign, Trump warned that he would consider cutting federal funding to New York City if Mamdani won, describing him as a political opponent with sharply different views.

The president, speaking Friday morning on Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” said Mamdani was “very nice in calling” to arrange the meeting. Trump said he anticipated a civil discussion.

“I think it’s going to be quite civil. We’ll find out,” he said. He added that he would have no issue with members of the media being allowed into part of the meeting.

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Trump also said he planned to raise concerns about cooperation between the New York Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an issue he has emphasized throughout his administration.

“We’re going to be talking about it. I just can’t imagine that, where you have hardcore criminals — and this is about criminals… when you have a known murderer, known rapist, known whatever it is, drug dealers all over the place, I can’t imagine that anybody wants to keep them, but I’ll have that discussion with him today. Absolutely.”

The president noted that he did not know exactly what to expect from Mamdani during the meeting. “Well, I don’t really know,” Trump said in the interview.

He acknowledged that the mayor-elect “has a different philosophy,” calling him “a little bit different,” but commended him for winning his race.

“I give him a lot of credit for the run. He did a successful run, and we all know that runs are not easy,” Trump said.

Despite their differences, he added, “I think we’ll get along fine. Look, we’re looking for the same thing. We want to make New York strong… but I’ll let you know over the next year, Brian.”

It remains unclear how long the Oval Office discussion will last or whether either side will hold a press availability after the meeting. The White House has not released additional details about the agenda.

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