Trump to meet Mamdani at White House on Friday

US President Donald Trump has announced that he will meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday, which would be the first meeting of the Republican leader with the democratic socialist who won mayoral election on earlier this month.

Mamdani and Trump have been critical of each other, as the US president backed independent candidate and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the New York City polls.

The meeting, which Trump informed would take place in the Oval Office, could act as a detente between the two leaders as Trump has moved toward acceptance of Mamdani’s winning campaign issue of affordability.

Informing about the meeting, Trump wrote, “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!” Trump had earlier said that he planned to meet Mamdani, saying ” we’ll work something out.”

Mamdani had earlier told reporters that his team has reached out to White House for a possible sit down with the president. “My team reached out to the White House to fulfill a commitment I made to New Yorkers over the course of this campaign,” the New York City mayor-elect said, Reuters reported.

During the run up to the mayoral polls in New York City, Trump had threatened he would cut billions of dollars in federal funding from the city if Mamdani won. The president has also criticised Mamdani for months and labelled him a “communist”.

Trump also threatened to deport the Democratic leader who was born in Uganda and became a US citizen in 2018 through naturalisation process. Mamdani is poised to sworn-in as the Mayor of New York City on January 1, 2026.