--- title: Trump and Mamdani to Meet Friday: Here’s What to Expect description: The highly anticipated meeting at the White House comes after months of public clashes between the two influential political figures. canonical: https://time.com/7335440/trump-mamdani-meeting-public-safety-affordability/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-11-20T18:59:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-11-20T20:00:20.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump and Mamdani to Meet Friday: Here’s What to Expect og:description: The highly anticipated meeting at the White House comes after months of public clashes between the two. og:url: https://time.com/7335440/trump-mamdani-meeting-public-safety-affordability/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f69eaa56366b55e/6998cbda7323af0c6a2bd0f8/Copy-of-Diptych-Template.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Copy of Diptych Template og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump and Mamdani to Meet Friday: Here’s What to Expect twitter:description: The highly anticipated meeting at the White House comes after months of public clashes between the two. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6f69eaa56366b55e/6998cbda7323af0c6a2bd0f8/Copy-of-Diptych-Template.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump and Mamdani to Meet Friday: Here’s What to Expect > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Updated: Nov 20, 2025 8:00 PM UTCPublished: Nov 20, 2025 6:59 PM UTC  Alexi J. Rosenfeld–Getty Images; Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Updated: Nov 20, 2025 8:00 PM UTCPublished: Nov 20, 2025 6:59 PM UTC President Donald Trump and incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are set to meet at the White House on Friday—a highly anticipated meeting between two influential political figures who have publicly clashed for months. Both politicians indicated earlier this week that they hoped to meet, and the President confirmed they soon would in a [Truth Social post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115579432475646132) Wednesday evening. “Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran ‘Kwame’ Mamdani, has asked for a meeting,” Trump wrote. “We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st. Further details to follow!” Mamdani is not a communist, but a Democratic socialist. Trump and Mamdani have sparred in the lead-up to and aftermath of the New York City mayoral election. Mamdani, a state assemblymember who went into the Democratic primary as an underdog but [clinched](https://time.com/7299335/zohran-mamdani-nyc-democratic-mayoral-primary/) the nomination over the summer in a [stunning political upset](https://time.com/7297431/zohran-mamdani-cuomo-concedes-new-york-city-democratic-mayoral-primary/) over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo before going on to best Cuomo again in the general election earlier this month, said during the campaign that he would be [“Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qOm8ZSeZOyg) He blasted the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, [vowing](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/nyregion/mamdani-speech-watch-party.html) that if elected mayor he would use his power to “stop masked ICE agents from deporting our neighbors.” Trump, meanwhile, has called Mamdani [“a 100% Communist lunatic”](https://time.com/7297832/trump-zohran-mamdani-reaction-communist-lunatic/) and [alluded](https://x.com/GloriaPazmino/status/1940095329065705505) to false claims that he is in the country “illegally” (Mamdani was [born](https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Zohran-K-Mamdani) in Uganda, moved to the U.S. as a child, and became a naturalized American citizen in 2018). Trump also [threatened](https://time.com/7299415/zohran-mamdani-trump-arrest-threat/) to “arrest” Mamdani if he defied immigration enforcement agents, prompting Mamdani to [denounce the President’s remarks](https://time.com/7299415/zohran-mamdani-trump-arrest-threat/), saying, “His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you.” The night before the November election, Trump [endorsed](https://time.com/7330806/trump-cuomo-mamdani-nyc-mayor-race/) Cuomo, saying in a [Truth Social post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115488077072288045), “I would much rather see a Democrat, who has had a Record of Success, WIN, than a Communist with no experience and a Record of COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAILURE.” The President said at the time that if Mamdani won the election, “it is highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required” to the city. Mamdani, in turn, jabbed at Trump in his [victory speech](https://time.com/7331243/watch-zohran-mamdani-victory-speech/) on election night. “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power,” the mayor-elect said, adding, “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.” Despite those tensions, Mamdani told [MS NOW](https://x.com/Acyn/status/1991323043302646099) in an interview on Wednesday night that his team reached out to the White House for a meeting “because of a commitment that I made to New Yorkers that I would be willing to meet with anyone and everyone, so long as it was to the benefit of the 8.5 million people who call the city home and their struggle to afford the most expensive city in the United States of America.” The White House declined to comment on what the President plans to discuss with Mamdani, directing TIME to Trump’s Truth Social post. At the White House press briefing on Thursday, though, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt commented on the anticipated meeting. “It speaks volumes that tomorrow, we have a communist coming to the White House because that’s who the Democrat Party elected as the mayor of the largest city in the country,” Leavitt [said](https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1991579640377585675?s=20). “But I also think it speaks to the fact that President Trump is willing to meet with anyone and talk to anyone and to try to do what’s right on behalf of the American people.” Mamdani confirmed to reporters on Thursday that he will be heading to Washington, D.C. the next day, adding that it is “customary” for the mayor-elect of New York City to meet with the White House “given the mutual reliance.” He said that this meeting is “more critical than ever, given the national crisis of affordability” and “the specific challenge many cities are facing with balancing public safety against steps taken by this Administration.” “I know that for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, this meeting is between two very different candidates who they voted for the same reason: they wanted a leader who would take on the cost of living crisis that makes it impossible for working people to afford living in this city,” he said. Here’s what to know about how the two politicians have clashed over issues of public safety and affordability. ## **Public safety** Mamdani [faced criticism](https://time.com/7297832/trump-zohran-mamdani-reaction-communist-lunatic/) during his campaign for his previous calls to defund the New York Police Department (NYPD), which he in the past referred to as a “racist, anti-queer and major threat to public safety.” In the lead-up to the election, he walked back some of those comments, publicly apologizing to the NYPD and saying that he is “looking to work with these officers” who “put their lives on the line every single day.” He has, though, [called](https://time.com/7296925/zohran-mamdani-nyc-mayoral-primary/) for the creation of a New York City Department of Public Safety to respond to mental health crises, saying that the city is relying too heavily on the NYPD for those types of situations. The Trump Administration, meanwhile, has [launched](https://time.com/7308904/dc-national-guard-trump-troops/) aggressive policing and immigration enforcement efforts in a number of cities, deploying National Guard troops to [Washington, D.C.](https://time.com/7308788/trump-washington-dc-national-guard/?amp=true), [Los Angeles](https://time.com/7291978/los-angeles-immigration-protests-trump-national-guard-deployed-newsom-backlash/), and [Chicago](https://time.com/7323373/trump-chicago-national-guard-troops/). Trump has [threatened](https://time.com/7309031/democrats-respond-trump-washington-dc-takeover-national-guard-baltimore-chicago-los-angeles-new-york-oakland/) to send troops to other cities, too, including New York City. Mamdani has vowed to [“Trump-proof”](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKuhpCXMloa/) the city, saying he will fight back against the President’s attacks on immigrants. ## **Economic security and affordability** Much of Mamdani’s campaign platform was focused on [affordability](https://time.com/7296925/zohran-mamdani-nyc-mayoral-primary/), including proposals to freeze rent in the city, make city buses free, create city-owned grocery stores focused on “keeping prices low, not making a profit,” and expanding free childcare for New Yorkers. The night before the election, Trump alluded to Mamdani’s economic proposals in his post endorsing Cuomo. “It is my strong conviction that New York City will be a Complete and Total Economic and Social Disaster should Mamdani win,” the President said on Truth Social. “His principles have been tested for over a thousand years, and never once have they been successful.” ## **How the meeting could go** It’s unclear what the tone of the meeting will be, but both Trump and Mamdani indicated this week that they are open to having a discussion. “We want to see everything work out well for New York,” the President told reporters on Sunday. “I have many disagreements with the President, and I believe that we should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that can make our city affordable for every single New Yorker,” Mamdani told reporters on Thursday. “I intend to make it clear to President Trump that I will work with him on any agenda that benefits New Yorkers. 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