This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
President Trump and New York mayor-elect, the democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani met Friday at the White House in the Oval Office for the first time. Over the past several months, both Trump and Mamdani have harshly criticized each other. Trump has called Mamdani a “communist lunatic” and a, quote, “Jew hater.” Trump had also threatened to send the National Guard to New York and cut off billions of dollars in federal funding to New York City if Mamdani was elected. Meanwhile, Mamdani has described Trump as a “fascist” and a “despot.”
Many of Trump’s supporters had criticized Trump for inviting Mamdani, who will soon become New York’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor. The far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer said it was, quote, “Wild to allow a jihadist communist to stand behind the President’s desk in the Oval Office,” unnquote.
But President Trump struck a very different tone as he openly embraced Mamdani’s effort to make New York City more affordable. These are excerpts from their press conference in the Oval Office.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’ve just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting. We have one thing in common: We want this city of ours, that we love, to do very well.
And I wanted to congratulate the mayor. He really ran an incredible race against, you know, a lot of smart people, starting with the early primaries against some very tough people, very smart people, and he beat them, and he beat them easily. And I congratulated him.
And we talked about some things in very strong common, like housing and getting housing built, and food and prices. And the price of oil is coming way down. Anything I do is going to be good for New York. If I can get prices down, it’s good for New York. And we’ve got them down, way down from — from last year. We have — as you know, I’ve been saying to a lot of people, Walmart said that Thanksgiving this year is exactly 25% less than last year. So that’s good for New York, good for everybody.
But I just want to congratulate — I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor. The better he does, the happier I am, I will say. There’s no difference in party. There’s no difference in anything. And we’re going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York. And congratulations, Mr. Mayor.
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Thank you.
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I appreciate it.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Please.
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I appreciated the meeting with the president. And as he said, it was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City, and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers, the eight-and-a-half million people who call our city their home, who are struggling to afford life in the most expensive city in the United States of America.
We spoke about rent. We spoke about groceries. We spoke about utilities. We spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out. And I appreciated the time with the president. I appreciated the conversation. I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.
STEVEN NELSON: Mr. Mamdani, it sounds like you had a productive discussion. But just days ago, you referred to President Trump as a “despot” who had “betrayed the country.” You said you’d be his “worst nightmare,” and accused him of having a “fascist agenda.” Are you planning to retract any of these remarks in order to improve your relationship?
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views. And what I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement — which there are many — and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers. And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of eight-and-a-half million people who are currently struggling under a cost of living crisis, with one in four living in poverty. And the meeting came back again and again to what it could look like to lift those New Yorkers out of struggle and start to deliver them a city that they could do more than just struggle to afford it, but actually start to live in it.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And I’ve been called much worse than a despot, so it’s not — it’s not that insulting. Maybe — I think he’ll change his mind after we get to working together. …
REPORTER 1: You’ve threatened to send federal troops to New York City. You both have differences when it comes to ICE agents —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Right.
REPORTER 1: — in New York City. Mr. Mamdani, you’ve called ICE a rogue government entity. I wonder how you reconcile your differences on both of those issues.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think we’re going to work them out. And I think that if we have known murderers and known drug dealers and some very bad people, you know, we want to get them out. And the mayor wants to have peace. We’ve discussed this at great length, actually, maybe more than anything else. He wants to have a safe New York. Ultimately, a safe New York is going to be a great New York.
JACQUI HEINRICH: I want to ask the mayor-elect about a House resolution, just passed overwhelmingly, to condemn socialism, including with 86 Democrats, all of House Dem leadership and the Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, despite his endorsement of you. What’s your reaction to that?
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I have to be honest with you: I focused very little on resolutions. Frankly, I’ve been focusing —
JACQUI HEINRICH: They condemned socialism.
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I understand. I think the focus is on the work at hand. I can tell you I am someone who is a democratic socialist. I’ve been very open about that. And I know there might be differences about ideology, but the place of agreement is the work that needs to be done to make New York City affordable. That’s what I look forward to.
JACQUI HEINRICH: And I want to clarify your answer to Steven Nelson. He asked about your comment calling the president a fascist. And your answer was “both President Trump and I have been clear about our positions and our views.”
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Mm-hmm.
JACQUI HEINRICH: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: I’ve spoken about the —
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That’s OK. You can just say yes. So —
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: OK. All right.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: OK?
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Yeah.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s easier.
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Yeah.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.
AMY GOODMAN: Excerpts of President Trump and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House Friday.
On Sunday, Mayor-elect Mamdani appeared on Meet the Press. He was interviewed by Kristen Welker.
KRISTEN WELKER: Mr. Mayor-elect, just to be very clear: Do you think that President Trump is a fascist?
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: And after President Trump said that, I said, “Yes.’ And —
KRISTEN WELKER: So you do?
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: And that’s something that I’ve said in the past. I say it today. And I think 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, 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.
KRISTEN WELKER: You’ve also said in the past that President Trump has engaged in a, quote, “attack on our democracy.” You’ve called him a “despot.” Do you still believe President Trump is a threat to the democracy?
MAYOR–ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI: Everything that I’ve said in the past, I continue to believe. And that’s the thing that I think is important in our politics, is that we don’t shy away from where we have disagreements, but we understand what it is that brings us to that table, because I’m not coming into the Oval Office to make a point or make a stand. I’m coming in there to deliver for New Yorkers. And a few weeks ago, I was asked by a reporter three words to describe myself. I said, “New York City.” And that’s what animated that conversation. How do we deliver for the people of New York City?
AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined right now by Ross Barkan, journalist, author, columnist for the New York magazine. His latest book is Fascism or Genocide: How a Decade of Political Disorder Broke American Politics.