Mamdani Says He And Trump Share Commitment To 'the Affordability Agenda'

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he and President Donald Trump were able to find common ground on their commitment to “working together for the affordability agenda” during a Friday meeting in the Oval Office.

Mamdani told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” that the “productive” meeting “came back again and again to the central themes of the campaign that we ran, the cost of housing, cost of child care, the cost of groceries, the cost of utilities.”

“What I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment,” Mamdani said in a Sunday morning interview.

“And we also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver on a shared analysis of an affordability crisis for New Yorkers," he said.

Mamdani, who committed to meeting with Trump if he was elected mayor, said he thought it important to "establish a productive relationship” focused on issues that New Yorkers care about.

During the New York City mayoral race, Trump mocked Mamdani as “a 100% Communist Lunatic” and falsely implied that he could be in the country illegally, despite Mamdani being an American citizen. He also threatened to take a heavy-handed approach to “straighten out New York,” including with cuts to federal funding.

But Trump backed away from those threats during Friday’s surprisingly jovial meeting, telling reporters: “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him."

Mamdani told Welker: “I believe the president and the conversation that we had” but said he will “continue to make the case, both to the president and to the country at large about the needs of New Yorkers.”

Still, Mamdani did not walk back his criticism of the president, reiterating his belief that Trump is a fascist while emphasizing the two leaders’ shared belief in addressing the affordability crisis.

Asked during the White House meeting if he saw Trump as a fascist, Mamdani said yes after Trump interjected, telling the mayor-elect jokingly: “That’s OK, you can just say it. It’s easier, it’s easier than explaining it.”