Zohran Mamdani Says Meeting with Trump Focused on Shared Purpose in Serving New Yorkers

TIME

After months of public sparring, President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani met face-to-face for the first time on Friday, and it appeared to go far more cordially than supporters of both men likely expected.  After a brief meeting Friday afternoon, reporters were brought into the Oval Office to find Trump seated at his desk and Mamdani standing at his side, the two smiling warmly as they talked about a productive meeting. While they both acknowledged deep policy differences, they both stressed that they had found common areas of agreement in areas like public safety and affordability, including goals of building more housing in New York City and addressing crime better.

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00:00I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views.

00:05And what I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement,

00:10which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers.

00:16And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of the 8.5 million people

00:19who are currently struggling under a cost-of-living crisis with one in four living in poverty.

00:24And the meeting came back again and again to what it could look like to lift those New Yorkers out of struggle

00:29and start to deliver them a city that they could do more than just struggle to afford it,

00:32but actually start to live in it.

00:33And I've been called much worse than a despot, so it's not that insulting.

00:39Maybe, I think he'll change his mind after we get to working together. Yes, please.

00:43I met with a man who's a very rational person.

00:46I met with a man who wants to see, really wants to see New York be great again.

00:50And I can say again, because New York was great.

00:53You know, when I came down to Washington initially, the city was so hot.

00:58It was doing great.

01:00We were having some telltale signs of problems.

01:03We had a mayor that was not doing a great job, but still, it was moving along.

01:09And it went bad.

01:12It really went, you know, pretty bad.

01:14And he can, I think it's been at lower points, but it went pretty bad.

01:19I think he can bring it back.

01:20Now, the question is, will he bring it back all the way?

01:22Will he bring it back greater than ever before?

01:25Which is, I guarantee, that's his wish.

01:27I think he wants to make it greater than ever before.

01:30And if he can, we'll be out there cheering.

01:32I'll be cheering for him.

01:34Okay?

01:34Thank you very much, everybody.

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