Zohran Mamdani is again in New York Metropolis following his assembly with President Trump on the White Home on Friday, the place their unexpectedly pleasant Oval Workplace information convention appeared to go off with out a hitch.
The mayor-elect spoke to reporters Sunday morning exterior a church within the Bronx, the place he mentioned the high-stakes assembly with the president was “productive” and targeted on delivering for New Yorkers.
“I have been heartened by the responses I’ve obtained from New Yorkers throughout the 5 boroughs who have been inspired to see the concentrate on value of residing and the affordability disaster that so many are dealing with on this metropolis, as a result of too usually when two politicians meet, the dialog not often extends past them,” Mamdani mentioned.
“I used to be appreciative of the tone”
Mr. Trump mentioned Friday that they had a “actually good assembly” after the pair spoke privately contained in the Oval Workplace after which held a joint information convention.
“We agree on much more than I might have thought. I need him to do an important job, and we’ll assist him do an important job,” mentioned the president.
The boys had publicly sparred for months, with the president falsely calling Mamdani a “communist,” and the mayor-elect vowing to “Trump-proof” the town in his election evening victory speech.
“I used to be appreciative of the tone and the truth that each of us have been trying to have a productive assembly,” Mamdani mentioned Sunday.
Mamdani says he stands behind fascism remarks
One exceptional second got here when a reporter requested Mamdani about his feedback calling Mr. Trump a “fascist,” and the president instructed him, “You’ll be able to simply say sure.”
Throughout a Sunday look on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the mayor-elect mentioned, “That is one thing that I’ve mentioned previously, I say it at the moment.”
“I feel what I appreciated in regards to the dialog that I had with the president was that we weren’t shy in regards to the locations of disagreement, in regards to the politics that has introduced us to this second. And we additionally wished to concentrate on what it may appear like to ship on a shared evaluation of an affordability disaster for New Yorkers,” mentioned Mamdani.
He was requested within the Bronx what message it might ship that he is now posing for images with the president.
“I feel the duty I’ve because the mayor of the town is to work with anybody who may also help to alleviate the affordability disaster and ship dignity to each individual that calls the town residence, and I feel it’s critically essential to each be trustworthy about our personal opinions, our personal assessments, and be dedicated to working with anybody who may additional that,” Mamdani replied.
Frequent floor round the price of residing
Earlier than touring to Washington, D.C., the mayor-elect mentioned he deliberate to remain targeted on affordability, noting that he and the president each campaigned on the difficulty. On Sunday, he mentioned he is “feeling good popping out of that assembly.”
“We spoke about issues that each one of us have been listening to for fairly a while, whether or not we’re talking about housing or public transit or baby care,” mentioned Mamdani.
There was a lot at stake of their assembly, together with all the pieces from federal funding for infrastructure tasks to immigration enforcement protocols and the mayor-elect’s safety clearances.
When requested whether or not he thinks Mr. Trump could ship in federal troops or what this implies for his or her relationship shifting ahead, Mamdani mentioned he is “assured that we’re establishing a productive relationship.”
“I can solely take issues one assembly at a time, one dialog at a time. And all I hoped to do in that dialog was to determine a working relationship and to have a productive assembly that targeted on the work itself,” he added.
Extra on the difficulty of immigration
Mamdani went on to say they spoke in regards to the metropolis’s sanctuary insurance policies, which he mentioned enable the town authorities to coordinate with federal legislation enforcement on roughly 170 critical crimes.
“The priority comes from past these crimes, that many New Yorkers who at this second are being arrested, they’re being detained, they’re being deported for the crime of exhibiting as much as a daily court docket look at 26 Federal Plaza, for the crime of merely being current in New York Metropolis,” he mentioned. “And the way my focus as the following mayor of the town goes to be to guard immigrants who name the town their residence and to ship public security to each New Yorker who lives throughout these 5 boroughs.”
The mayor-elect mentioned additionally they spoke about NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch staying on as chief of the police division.
“Some of the current selections we made to retain Commissioner Tisch was one that truly got here up within the dialog that I had with President Trump. It was one which he noticed, as do I, as do many New Yorkers, as a mirrored image of the significance we’re inserting on public security,” he mentioned.
