Trump praises Mamdani after New York meeting, discusses immigration and housing project

NEW YORK – President Donald Trump heaped praise on Sept 21 onto New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the pair set aside their political differences to discuss immigration enforcement and a multi-billion dollar housing project.

Trump, a Republican, heavily criticised Mamdani before he took office in January – calling him “my little communist” and a “total nut job” – but the two men have since struck a surprisingly warm relationship.

“Hopefully, you’re going to be a great (mayor). I’ll be able to say you’re going to be a great one, and you’re off to a start,” Trump told Mamdani at a news conference.

Their closed-door talks in Manhattan, which lasted around an hour, marked the pair’s third public meeting since Mamdani swept the mayoral election in 2025.

“We appreciate the president’s commitment to the city,” Mamdani said of Trump, who was visiting his hometown New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.

The 34-year-old said he expressed his “very strong opinions about how we can keep New Yorkers safe” when asked about Trump’s culling of Temporary Protected Status for thousands of immigrants as part of mass deportation plans.

Mamdani said they also spoke about a 12,000-home building proposal in New York, which the pair previously discussed in February and would require an estimated US$21 billion (S$26.8 billion) in federal government funding.

He said he planned to continue cooperating with Trump, despite acknowledging they have “many disagreements”.

“We’ve both spoken about very different approaches, very different beliefs, and I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly with anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city,” Mamdani said.

Trump’s visit came as top US television networks essentially boycotted coverage of the president in protest of his decision to ban three outlets, CNN, MS NOW and Politico, from the White House.

Mamdani said he had told Trump that all members of the press would be welcome at their joint press conference, held in front of the mayor’s official residence.

“That is something that I believe in, is everyone, no matter the opinion or the critique, that we engage,” he told reporters.

Trump, meanwhile, brushed off a suggestion that he had issued the media bans to distract the public from criticism of the war in Iran.

“It’s interesting because they (the media) said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me, so I wasn’t very worried about that,” he said. AFP