‘I’ll stick up for you’: key moments from the cordial Trump-Mamdani meeting

1. Trump and Mamdani <3 New York

The president likes a winner and he loves New York – and both were clear on Friday, when he extolled Mamdani for running an “incredible race” against some “very tough people”.

“We have one thing in common – we want this city of ours that we love to do incredibly well,” Trump said, in his opening remarks to reporters following the meeting with Mamdani.

Trump was especially impressed with Mamdani’s election performance, marveling at how the mayor-elect “came out of nowhere”. Trump also seemed flattered to learn that a share of his own supporters had backed the 34-year-old Democrat. “One in 10,” Mamdani interjected, recalling his discussion with Queens residents who voted for Trump in the 2024 election. To Trump’s delight, Mamdani noted that he had spoken with a pharmacist who counted the president’s late father, Fred, as a customer.

Trump pledged to cooperate with the new mayor, saying: “The better he does, the happier I am.”

2. Trump would live in Mamdani’s New York

When it became clear Mamdani, an unabashed democratic socialist, was on track to be the city’s next mayor, conservatives began warning of an exodus of billionaires and bankers from the heart of global capitalism. (No such flight has yet been documented.)

On Friday, the Queens-born billionaire, now officially a Florida resident, said he was not among them. Trump would “absolutely” live in the city under a Mayor Mamdani.

“I always feel very, very comfortable being in New York,” Trump said. “And I think much more so after the meeting.”

He added: “I think he’s going to surprise some conservative people, actually.”

3. Trump dismisses Republican attacks on Mamdani

Asked by a reporter whether he agrees with New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who has characterized Mamdani as a “jihadist”, Trump said he did not, and downplayed her comments as overheated campaign rhetoric in her quest to become the state’s next governor.

“I met with a man who’s a very rational person,” Trump said.

“I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again.”

4. Trump deflected pointed questions from conservative journalists to Mamdani

Mamdani faced several pointed questions from conservative and Trump-friendly journalists – but Trump swooped in on multiple occasions to deflect on the mayor-elect’s behalf.

When asked if he would retract his attacks on the president as a “despot” and an “authoritarian”, Mamdani was prepared. He avoided answering the question directly, saying: “We are very clear about our positions and our views, and what I really appreciate about the president is the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers.”

But before the reporter could press Mamdani further, Trump interjected: “I’ve been called much worse than a despot and so it’s not that insulting.” He predicting Mamdani might change his mind after “we get to working together”.

Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich later followed up on the matter, asking whether Mamdani still considers Trump to be a “fascist”. Mamdani, cheeks flushed, began to respond, but Trump jumped in again. “That’s OK,” the president said, jovially tapping Mamdani’s arm and telling him it was “easier” to just say yes, which Mamdani did.

At another point, the same reporter suggested Mamdani was a hypocrite for flying to Washington rather than taking the train from New York, which would have been the more environmentally-friendly transportation mode. “I’ll stick up for you,” Trump offered, arguing it was much faster to fly and that the mayor-elect is busy.

5. Adversaries turned affordability agenda partners

Mamdani’s election was just one victory in a banner night for Democrats, all of whom focused relentlessly on what they framed as a cost-of-living crisis in America. Since then, Trump has sought to re-focus his political message on affordability – and he spent much of Friday’s appearance with Mamdani insisting that lowering prices was one of their shared concerns.

Mamdani – whose calls to “freeze the rent” and make city busses “fast and free” rallied New Yorkers behind his campaign – described Friday’s meeting with the president “productive” and said their discussion touched on the soaring cost of rent, groceries, and utilities.

“It was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City, and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers, the 8.5 million people who call our city their home, who are struggling to afford life in the most expensive city in the United States of America,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani added that he was “looking forward” to working with the Trump administration “to deliver on that affordability agenda” – a markedly different tone from his election night address, when he told Trump to “turn the volume up” and listen as he pledged that New York would be a “light” in a “moment of political darkness”.

Trump repeatedly committed to working with Mamdani. At one point, Trump suggested his administration would pressure the utility company ConEdison, the primary electric provider for millions of New Yorkers, to lower its rates. He also welcomed Mamdani’s desire to build more housing.

“He wants to see a lot of houses created, a lot of apartments built, et cetera,” said Trump, the former Manhattan developer. “People would be shocked but I want to see the same thing.

Trump added: “We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help them do a great job.”