Overview
- Following a private meeting of just over 30 minutes, both leaders said they found common ground on housing, cost of living and public safety and would work together for New Yorkers.
- Trump publicly rejected a reporter’s “jihadist” smear of Mamdani, calling him “a very rational person” and adding, “the better he does, the happier I am.”
- The press moment turned light as Trump told Mamdani he could simply say yes to having called him a fascist and joked he had been called worse.
- The president’s tone marked a reversal from earlier threats to cut federal funding or deploy the National Guard, though no new federal support was announced.
- Analysts said the meeting serves both politically by amplifying Trump’s affordability focus and boosting Mamdani’s profile as he readies to take office on Jan. 1, 2026.