Mamdani says he wants to sit down with Trump to discuss affordability

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Monday that he hopes to meet with US President Donald Trump to find ways the political polar opposites can work together on the central focus of his winning campaign: affordability.

At an appearance at a food pantry in the Bronx, the Democrat confirmed that his team had reached out to the White House to set up a possible sit-down.

Trump told reporters Sunday night that he planned to meet with Mamdani, saying “we’ll work something out,” as he prepared to fly back to Washington after spending the weekend in Florida.

Mamdani said the overture reflected his commitment to meet with anyone who could help address the city’s most pressing needs, including controlling soaring costs.

“The president ran a campaign where he spoke about a promise to deliver cheaper groceries, a promise to reduce the cost of living,” the mayor-elect said after visiting Part of the Solution, or POTS. “We are seeing his actions and that of his administration in Washington leading to the exact opposite effect for New Yorkers.”

Mamdani also criticized Trump’s efforts to cut funding to the food aid program known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, during the federal government shutdown.

The potential face-to-face could represent a detente for the Republican president and Democratic political star, who have cast each other as political foils.

Trump has for months slammed Mamdani, falsely labeling him as a “communist” and predicting the ruin of his hometown if the democratic socialist was elected.

He also threatened to deport Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a naturalized American citizen in 2018, and to pull federal money from the city.

Trump has spoken more about affordability following the November election, when Republicans lost badly in Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. But he and Republicans insist the economy has never been stronger.

In a social media post Friday, Trump even declared the GOP is the “Party of Affordability!”

Meanwhile Mamdani has risen from an obscure state lawmaker representing Queens to a symbol of the resistance against Trump in just a few short months.

The 34-year-old upset former New York governor Andrew Cuomo in June’s Democratic primary, then trounced him and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the general election.

During his victory speech earlier this month, Mamdani said he wanted New York to show the country how to defeat the president.

He’s also talked about “Trump-proofing” New York once he takes office in January while also promising to work with anyone, including the president, if it benefited New Yorkers.