New York/Washington, Nov 20 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has said that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will meet him at the White House on Friday.
Trump has been critical of Mamdani’s policies and had warned on the eve of the November 4 election that Mamdani’s win will be a “complete and total economic and social disaster” for New York City.
“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. Further details to follow!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday.
In his fiery victory speech, Mamdani had challenged Trump, who has launched a crackdown on immigration in his second term as President, asserting that New York will be powered by immigrants and, after his historic victory, will be “led by an immigrant”.
“After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power,” Mamdani had said to thunderous applause.
“This is not only how we stop Trump; it’s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” he said.
Trump had termed Mamdani’s victory speech as a “very angry” address, saying he is off to a bad start and doesn’t have a chance of succeeding if he is not respectful of Washington.
When asked if he would reach out to him, Trump said that Mamdani “should reach out to us really. I think he should reach out. I’m here. We’ll see what happens. But I would think that it would be more appropriate for him to reach out to us.” Trump had added that he is “so torn, because I would like to see the new mayor do well, because I love New York. I really love New York.” Trump, who calls Mamdani a “communist”, had said that for thousands of years, communism has not worked. “Communism or the concept of communism has not worked. I tend to doubt it’s going to work this time.” Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.
He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.
Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
