World Leaders Are Waiting, but Trump Visits Mamdani: An Old Familiar Face at the Mayor’s Mansion

While heads of state and government from around the world are traveling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump first makes a stop to see a man with whom he has little in common politically. At Gracie Mansion, the New York City mayor’s official residence, he spends an hour talking with Zohran Mamdani on Monday. Afterward, the Republican president and the democratic socialist stand together on the lawn of the yellow mansion in Manhattan. Trump is lost in memories. He’s been here before and knows the building and some of its former residents. Some mayors had been great, others not so great, he recalls. He pats Mamdani on the back and says he hopes Mamdani will one day be one of the great ones. He’s already off to a start.

There’s a history behind this visit that doesn’t fit neatly into the usual political camps. Trump and Mamdani have met at least twice before. After Mamdani’s election victory last year, the president welcomed him to the Oval Office. Their conversation was surprisingly friendly, following months of public clashes between the 2 men. Back then, they talked about how they could help their shared hometown. In February, Mamdani traveled to Washington again and presented Trump with a mock front page of a New York newspaper. The New York Daily News. It read: “Trump to City: Let’s Build.” The mayor was pushing for new investment in housing. The newspaper headline was a proposal on paper. Whether any homes will come of it is another matter.

This time, too, both men say they discussed a possible housing project in the borough of Queens. New York should become more affordable for working people. They offer no further details for now. Trump uses their joint appearance mainly to take a walk down memory lane. With so many meetings with foreign heads of state and government on his schedule, this visit feels to him like a little reunion with old friends, he says. He has so many memories of the house behind him.

One of them is the 2003 wedding of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Trump also attended a book event for former Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel at Gracie Mansion in 2007. The president talks about the building like someone walking down a familiar hallway after a long time away. Outside, the questions facing a city whose rents can’t be paid with memories are still waiting.

The political distance between the 2 men hasn’t disappeared in the meantime. As they did after their 1st meeting, both acknowledge their differing positions. Mamdani keeps his cards close to his chest when asked how often he speaks with Trump away from their public appearances. Their friendly manner is plain to see, but what it will mean for New York can’t be read from a pat on the back alone.

Then the dispute over access to the White House reaches the lawn of the mayor’s mansion. Mamdani is asked about Trump’s decision to bar several news organizations from the White House. The mayor says it’s important that those very news organizations, along with other members of the media, be present at the event at Gracie Mansion. He says this while standing next to the man who has denied them access to his own official residence.

The media asks Mayor Mamdani about Trump’s decision to bar several news organizations from the White House while he stands right next to Trump. Mamdani doesn’t shy away from openly disagreeing with him.

Trump defends his restrictions. The coverage by the affected news organizations is biased, he says. It’s interesting, he adds, that they announced they were going to boycott him but never actually do. Those news organizations have an obligation to report fairly, he says. The president demands fairness from newsrooms whose access he himself makes dependent on his judgment of their work. Mamdani has opened the doors to them that day.

“If they are fake news, I have an obligation to not allow them into another very special house.”

After Trump leaves, the mayor returns to the lawn and answers more questions. He and the president have major disagreements, he says. Even so, their relationship has held up so far. He will keep talking to Trump, as well as anyone else who can bring relief to the people of this city.

For an hour, 2 men who publicly clash over fundamental political questions sat together and talked about housing in Queens. Trump moves on to meet with the heads of state and government at the United Nations. Mamdani stays behind in New York, where the next rent bill usually has less patience than the grand world of diplomacy.