President Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will meet in the Oval Office on Friday, November 21. Mamdani says the discussion will center on public safety, economic security and an affordability agenda he campaigned on. The mayor-elect reached out to the White House to press the president on lowering living costs for New Yorkers. Mamdani still requires a top-level federal security clearance before taking office, a process that observers say could affect his transition.
Trump to Meet New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani in Oval Office
President Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will meet in the Oval Office on Friday, November 21. Mamdani says the discussion will center on public safety, economic security and an affordability agenda he campaigned on. The mayor-elect reached out to the White House to press the president on lowering living costs for New Yorkers. Mamdani still requires a top-level federal security clearance before taking office, a process that observers say could affect his transition.
01:06 PM, 11/20/2025Politics
President Donald Trump has agreed to meet New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday, November 21, marking an unexpected encounter between the president and the Democratic socialist whose election he publicly opposed.
Trump announced the meeting in a post on his social platform, saying the two leaders would convene at the White House. In the lead-up to the mayoral contest the president had urged New Yorkers to support Mamdani's opponent and frequently criticized the mayor-elect in public remarks.
"Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran 'Kwame' Mamdani, has asked for a meeting. We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Mamdani's spokesperson, Dora Pekec, said the discussion will focus on public safety, economic security and the "affordability agenda that over one million New Yorkers voted for just two weeks ago." The mayor-elect has described affordability — reducing the cost of living for New Yorkers — as a central plank of his campaign.
On Monday, Mamdani said he reached out to the White House to arrange talks aimed at addressing those affordability challenges. In a Friday evening interview, he said he intends to press the president on concrete steps to lower costs for city residents and to speak plainly about how many New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet.
Security Clearance and Transition Issues
Before taking office, Mamdani still requires a top-level federal security clearance. Observers note that the president has in the past restricted or curtailed clearances for political opponents, which could complicate the mayor-elect's transition into office and access to certain federal cooperation.
Both sides framed the meeting as substantive: the White House highlighting the engagement and Mamdani's team emphasizing a focus on public safety, economic security and affordability. The Oval Office sit-down will be closely watched as a test of whether the two leaders can find common ground after a contentious campaign.