In a surprising turn during a meeting at the Oval Office, President Donald Trump told New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani that he was “okay” with being called a “fascist,” a term Mamdani had used during his campaign rallies, CNN reported. When a reporter asked Mamdani if he stood by the label, Trump jumped in, saying, “That’s okay. You can just say yes… I don’t mind.” #TrumpMamdaniMeeting #TrumpFascistComment #ZohranMamdani #NYCPolitics #TrumpNYC #OvalOfficeMeeting #TrumpNews #MamdaniNews #BreakingNews #TrumpStatement #NYCMayorElect #PoliticalShowdown #USPolitics #TrumpPressConference #MamdaniTrump #CostOfLivingNYC #HousingCrisisNYC #CNNReport
00:00Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
00:03I've spoken about...
00:04That's okay, you can just say yes.
00:06Okay.
00:06It's easier.
00:08It's easier than explaining it.
00:10I don't mind.
00:10President Trump, Stephen Nelson from the New York Post.
00:12I've got a question for you and then also one for the mayor elect.
00:15For you, you've referred to Mr. Mamdani as a communist.
00:19Could you describe why you feel that way?
00:21And also, will you do anything to stop him from arresting Prime Minister Netanyahu if he visits New York?
00:27Well, we didn't discuss your second part of the question.
00:30And on your first part, I mean, he's got views that are a little out there.
00:34But who knows?
00:35I mean, we're going to see what works.
00:37Or he's going to change also.
00:39We all change.
00:39I change a lot.
00:40Change a lot.
00:41From when I first came to office, it's now quite a while ago.
00:45It's quite a while.
00:46My first term was great.
00:48We had the greatest economy in the history of our country.
00:50We're doing even better now.
00:52We're doing much better now than we did even the first term.
00:54And I can tell you, some of my views have changed.
00:57And we had discussions on some things.
01:00I'm not going to discuss what they were, but that I feel very confident that he can do a very good job.
01:06I think he's going to be, I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually.
01:12And some very liberal people, he won't surprise them because they already like him.
01:15And for Mr. Montani, it sounds like you had a productive discussion.
01:20But just days ago, you referred to President Trump as a despot who had betrayed the country.
01:25You said you'd be his worst nightmare and accused him of having a fascist agenda.
01:29Are you planning to retract any of these remarks in order to improve your relationship?
01:34I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views.
01:39And what I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many,
01:46and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers.
01:50And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of the eight and a half million people who are currently struggling under a cost of living crisis with one in four living in poverty.
01:58And the meeting came back again and again to what it could look like to lift those New Yorkers out of struggle
02:03and start to deliver them a city that they could do more than just struggle to afford it, but actually start to live in it.
02:08And I've been called much worse than a despot, so it's not that insulting.
02:13Maybe, I think he'll change his mind after we get to working together.
02:16There will be topics that we disagree on.
02:18I think we'll probably come to a conclusion.
02:20And ultimately, he'll convince me, or I'll convince him, you know, it's for the good of New York.
02:27Ultimately, it's for the good of New York.
02:29I don't care about affiliations or parties or anything else.
02:32I want to see if this city could be unbelievable, if he could be a spectacular success, I'd be very happy.
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