Trump Holds Surprise White House Meeting With Mamdani to Discuss NYC Housing

President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met in Washington to discuss housing on Thursday.

The meeting between the two was not publicized on the president’s or the mayor’s schedule in advance. The New York Post first reported Mamdani’s trip to Washington. The two were expected to spend part of the meeting discussing the need to build more housing, The New York Times reported.

“I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon,” Mamdani said in a social media post afterwards. “I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City.”

How the meeting came about or the topics that the two planned to discuss were not shared in advance. The White House did not return NOTUS’ request for comment.

Trump first met with Mamdani at the White House in November, a surprisingly friendly meeting despite their politics. Trump described Mamdani as a “nice guy” and said he was “speaking to him a lot” despite his “bad policy” during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

“Even the communist mayor of New York City — I think he’s a nice guy, actually, speaking to him a lot. Bad policy, but nice guy, just said they want people to shovel snow but if you apply for that job you need to show two original forms of ID and a Social Security card,” Trump said, referring to the SAVE America Act, legislation that would require more documentation for voters to cast their ballot. Democrats have said the legislation would disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters.

Mamdani has said they keep an open line of communication over text and called the president following the U.S. military raid on Venezuela.

“I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act,” Mamdani said in a press conference on Jan. 3.

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Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.

This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The City.