Mamdani, a left-wing Democrat, has described himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare.” The Republican president, in turn, has called the mayor-elect a “communist lunatic.”
But when the two leaders, both with roots in the borough of Queens, met in the Oval Office, the focus was on finding common ground in their love for the city of New York.
"We will help him realize everyone's dream, to have a strong and very safe New York," Trump said at a joint press conference afterward.
Mamdani calls the meeting "productive" and says he raised several important issues from his mayoral campaign.
"We talked about rent, we talked about groceries, we talked about electricity and water. We talked about how people are being pushed out," Mamdani says.
During the mayoral campaign, Trump falsely claimed that Mamdani was a communist and threatened to cut off state funding to the city if the 34-year-old won. Mamdani, who initiated Friday's meeting, has previously called the Trump administration "authoritarian."
