Detente? Trump says Mamdani will visit White House on Friday

In a move that has already sparked a diametrically opposed political outlook for the country, US President Donald Trump will meet with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House.

Late on Wednesday, Trump posted a false statement on his social media platform Truth Social stating that Mamdani would travel to the Oval Office on Friday. He also falsely identified Mamdani as a communist and put his middle name, Kwame, in quotation marks.

“Further details to follow” the president enlarging.

The president slammed Mamdani as a “communist,” mispronouncing his name, threatened to cut off federal funding to New York if he won, and capped off the campaign with his historic victory on November 4 as the city’s first Muslim mayor.

In the final hours before the election, Trump even endorsed Democratic Rep. Andrew Cuomo over Republican Rep. Curtis Sliwa, boasting to his supporters that Mamdani was a “FAILURE.”

Mamdani, for his part, has frequently compared the Trump administration to authoritarianism and portrayed his own objectives as mayor in stark contrast to the president’s lifelong pursuit of wealth and power.

In his victory speech, Mamdani made a promise to the same city that gave rise to Donald Trump, noting his New York roots. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by destroying the very conditions that gave him the most power, “And there is only one way to do that.”

Trump has nevertheless indicated that he is willing to defrost relations following the election earlier this month, which also saw sweeping victories for Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia. The president rebuffed his threat of funding in a speech to the American Business Forum in Florida as he criticized communism.

“We’ll help him,” the phrase means “we’ll help him.” New York should have success, we want it. He said, “We’ll give him a little help, maybe.”

In the run-up to and after Mamdani won the mayoral election, numerous Republicans and MAGA supporters launched racist and vitriolic attacks on Mamdani.

Mamdani addressed “racist, baseless attacks” from his opponents in an emotional speech days before the election day. Mamdani criticized opponents for bringing “hatred to the forefront” while speaking outside a Bronx mosque, noting that close to one million Muslims live in New York and are affected by their Islamophobia.

Mamdani claimed earlier this week that his team had contacted the White House because he had “made a commitment that showed a willingness to meet with anyone and everyone, as long as it is for the benefit” of New Yorkers.