Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will sit down with former President Barack Obama on Saturday for their first in-person meeting.
The gathering is set to take place at a city child care center, where the two leaders plan to hold a private conversation before greeting local families, according to Politico. Mamdani’s aides spent months arranging the sit-down and pushed to lock in a date in recent weeks to build on momentum from his first 100 days in office. (RELATED: Mayor Mamdani Says Exodus From New York Is Just Your Imagination)
Obama first contacted Mamdani by phone on Nov. 1, 2025, just days ahead of the general election, ABC News reported. During the roughly 30-minute call, the former president praised Mamdani’s campaign and offered to serve as a “sounding board” if the democratic socialist prevailed. The former president withheld a formal endorsement during the race, a choice that fits his pattern of avoiding municipal politics since his White House exit. Both men initially floated meeting in Washington rather than New York.
Mamdani brings Obama to NYC for meeting https://t.co/ag6Y5NtUb8
— POLITICO (@politico) April 18, 2026
The sit-down comes as friction grows between Mamdani and President Donald Trump over a proposed pied-à-terre tax backed by the mayor and rolled out by Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Washington Examiner reported. The measure would apply a yearly fee to second homes priced above $5 million and is projected to generate $500 million annually. Trump blasted the plan Thursday on Truth Social, writing that Mamdani “is DESTROYING New York” and threatening to cut off federal funding for the city.
Mamdani addressed his working relationship with Trump during an appearance on “CBS Mornings” on Thursday, telling host Gayle King he and the president stay in regular contact despite open policy disputes. He said their one common ground is that both “love New York City.”
Mamdani posted on social media in 2013 that Obama was “pretty damn evil,” Politico reported.
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