NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani keeps Trump ‘fascist’ label after White House meeting

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is standing by his description of President Trump as a “fascist,” even after a face-to-face meeting at the White House.

Mr. Mamdani, 34, was pressed by reporters last week on whether he still believed the president fit that label, but before he could answer, Mr. Trump, 79, interjected: “That’s OK, you can just say ‘yes.’ It’s easier than explaining. I don’t mind.”

He did, however, accept Mr. Trump’s invitation and just said “yes.”

Appearing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Mamdani confirmed he had not changed his view.

“It’s something that I’ve said in the past,” he said. “I say it today.

“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,” he said.

The meeting at the White House followed months of sharp attacks between the two men.

Mr. Trump branded Mr. Mamdani a “communist,” a “radical,” and a “lunatic.” He warned that Mr. Mamdani would be terrible for New York City and threatened to withhold federal funds from the city if he won.

Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, also repeatedly knocked Mr. Trump.

In his victory speech, Mr. Mamdani described the Republican as a “despot” who has betrayed the nation, and who is emblematic of broader culture of corruption.

Despite the frequent heated rhetoric, the two men played nice during their meeting at the White House.

They sent a united message on affordability, insisting they are on the same page on issues such as crime and grocery prices.

“We’ve just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting,” Mr. Trump said, adding that they both have “one thing in common — we want this city of ours that we love to do very well.

“The better he does, the happier I am,” Mr. Trump said. “There’s no difference in party, there’s no difference in anything.”

Mr. Mamdani said the meeting was “productive” and that the two discussed issues of affordability in New York, which was the focus of his campaign.

“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, New York City,” Mr. Mamdani said then.

“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,” he said.

Mr. Trump not only accused Mr. Mamdani of being a communist, he even endorsed longtime political foe Andrew Cuomo in a last-ditch attempt to derail Mr. Mamdani’s campaign.

“It’s going to be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York,” Mr. Trump said at the time. “Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there.”

At his victory speech on election night, Mr. Mamdani took swipes at Mr. Trump.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mr. Mamdani said at the time. “And if there is any way to defeat a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.”

When asked about those comments on Friday, Mr. Trump replied, “I’ve been called much worse than a despot, so it’s not that insulting.”

Mr. Trump repeatedly highlighted common areas of agreement, saying the two “have more in common than I thought.”

The president ticked off building more housing in New York, decreasing crime, and lowering prices as policies that both have in common.

“He wants to see no crime. He wants to see housing built. He wants to see rents coming down,” Mr. Trump said. “All things that I agree with.”

The president said Mr. Mamdani “could do some things that are going to be really great.”

He even said he would consider moving back to New York City to live under a Mamdani administration, although conservatives had been warning that, and then trumpeting the early signs to that effect, wealthy New Yorkers leaving the city.