US President Donald Trump is set to meet New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, as Trump travels to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.The meeting will focus on issues affecting New York City and its residents, Mamdani’s communications director Anna Bahr said. The White House confirmed the meeting but did not provide further details, as reported by AP.The meeting comes despite the often-contentious political relationship between Trump and Mamdani. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary before winning the mayoral election in November. He has frequently been targeted by Republicans.Trump, however, has struck a notably warmer tone toward Mamdani since the mayor’s election. During their first meeting after Mamdani won, Trump described the encounter as cordial and said the then-mayor-elect would “surprise some conservative people.” That marked a contrast with Trump’s description of Mamdani during the 2025 campaign as a “100% Communist Lunatic.”The two have also previously used their meetings to discuss federal support for New York. During a February meeting, Mamdani handed Trump a mock New York Daily News front page reading “Trump to City: Let’s Build.”The headline was a play on the newspaper’s famous 1975 front page, “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD,” which referred to President Gerald Ford’s pledge to veto federal financial assistance to New York.Mamdani’s aides said the mock front page was intended to highlight the potential public reaction to new federal investment in housing and the support such funding could receive in the city.Trump’s meeting with Mamdani comes as New York hosts nearly 130 world leaders for this year’s UN General Assembly, with wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as concerns over artificial intelligence, among the major issues confronting the gathering.
