mayor of new york city Zoran Mamdani meet with the president Donald Trump A previously unannounced meeting at the White House on Thursday lasted about an hour and focused on the city’s major new housing investments while also discussing the arrest of a Columbia University student.After the meeting, Mamdani posted on X, “I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon. I look forward to building more housing in New York City.”As part of the visit, Mamdani showed Trump a mock newspaper front page created by his team. It was titled “Trump to City: Let’s Build” — a riff on the famous 1975 New York Daily News cover that read “Ford to City: Die,” referring to Gerald Ford’s vow to veto financial aid to the city.Mamdani’s office declined to provide details about the housing proposal, but Anna Barr, the mayor’s communications director, said Trump was “very enthusiastic” about it. During their first one-on-one meeting at the White House last November, Trump encouraged Mamdani to come back with the idea of building a major project together in New York City, she said. Barr added that the mayor’s team created mock front pages and headlines to show what kind of response new federal housing investments might have. During Thursday’s meeting, Mamdani also raised the issue of the arrest of Columbia University student Ellie Aghayeva, who was detained by federal immigration authorities earlier in the day. The arrest sparked protests on campus and accusations that agents impersonated police officers and entered university residences to search for missing children.Hours after detaining Ahayeva, the federal government reversed course and allowed her to walk free after an intervention by Donald Trump. Mamdani also provided White House chief of staff Suzy Wiles with a list of four other students targeted by federal authorities and asked for government help.“He just told me that she will be released soon,” Mamdani wrote on social media, referring to Akhaeva.The rapid development highlighted the evolving relationship between Trump and Mamdani. Mamdani is a democratic socialist whom Trump has threatened to deport. During the mayoral campaign, Trump repeatedly criticized Mamdani as a “communist,” but appeared more receptive after the November meeting.
