AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The meeting between Donald Trump, the President of the United States, and Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor of New York, was held at the "Gracie Mansion in Manhattan, New York" with a friendly tone despite the deep political differences between the two sides; a meeting in which the two sides discussed housing, immigration, and some urban issues.
At this meeting, Trump said, "Previously, I preferred Mamdani to be a terrible mayor, but now I hope Mamdani will be a great mayor for this city!" Mamdani also said he is ready to cooperate with anyone who can bring tangible results for New Yorkers.
This meeting was notable because Trump and Mamdani are on two different sides of the American political spectrum. Trump is a right-wing populist Republican, and Mamdani is considered a member of the "Democratic Socialists of America." In recent months, Trump has repeatedly attacked Democrats with descriptions such as "godless communists," and Mamdani is also a critic of his administration's policies, especially in the areas of immigration and warmongering in the Middle East. Mamdani is also the first Muslim mayor of New York, and Trump in his recent period of political activity has taken fascist positions toward immigrants and Muslims!
Despite these differences, the atmosphere of the meeting before the cameras was apparently friendly. This was the first presence of a US President in Gracie Mansion in the past 45 years; the last time was Ronald Reagan in 1981, who attended this location to meet with Ed Koch, the then-Mayor of New York.
One of the main topics of discussion was the housing crisis and efforts to increase affordable housing units in New York. After this meeting, the two sides said that negotiations on the plan to build 12,000 housing units in the Sunnyside Yard area in the Queens borough of New York are to be pursued more seriously.
However, the two sides' differences on immigration remain. Mamdani said that in this meeting, he spoke about the Trump administration's decision to cancel immigration protections for Haitian citizens and emphasized the necessity of protecting New York immigrants, especially the Haitian community. He said he conveyed his positions in this regard "very explicitly" to Trump and added that the two sides have "many disagreements" on various issues. These remarks came as one day before the meeting, Mamdani and Clara Brugada, the Mayor of Mexico City, had met with immigrant delivery workers in New York; workers who had expressed concern about the increase in arrests by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The issue of media freedom was also raised at this meeting. In response to a question about Trump's decision to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from accessing the White House grounds, Mamdani said he told the President that all media members should be able to be present at the location and that he believes in this principle. This position came as the three mentioned media outlets on the same day sued the Trump administration to restore their reporters' access to the White House and claimed that the cancellation of credentials due to the content of their news coverage violates press rights guaranteed in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
After this remark by Mamdani, Trump reacted and said he does not agree with the mayor on this matter and claimed that these media outlets publish false news!
On the other hand, Mamdani this month, in a legal case against the Trump administration regarding the change to the "public charge" rule, which according to the plaintiffs affects immigrant communities, has joined the State of New York and 21 other states. The Guardian says it is not clear whether this case was raised in the meeting between the two sides. Therefore, although the Gracie Mansion meeting was held with diplomatic language and emphasis on cooperation, their structural differences in the areas of immigration, immigrant rights, and media freedom remain.
Overall, the importance of this meeting was more in the effort of two politicians with different views to find areas of practical cooperation in running New York than in signifying a political agreement between Trump and Mamdani. Trump emphasized the success of the city's new mayor, and Mamdani also said his criterion for cooperation is each side's ability to solve New Yorkers' problems. At the same time, both sides showed that fundamental differences over immigration, media, and federal government policies remain. This meeting was held on the eve of Trump's speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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