Trump visits Mamdani at Gracie Mansion, calls meeting "old home week"
President Donald Trump's trip to New York for a speech at the United Nations began Monday with an hourlong visit to Gracie Mansion, where he and Mayor Zohran Mamdani discussed housing and city affordability in what turned into a nostalgic exchange for the president.
Speaking alongside Mamdani after their meeting, Trump recalled his past visits to the mayoral residence and the "great ones and some not so great ones" who have led the city over the years. "Hopefully you're going to be a great one," he told Mamdani, patting him on the back. "And you're off to a start."
The meeting is the latest in a series of surprisingly cordial encounters between the Republican president and the democratic socialist mayor, who have found common ground despite having little political overlap. With world leaders converging on New York for the UN General Assembly, Trump said the Gracie Mansion stop felt like "a little bit of old home week" amid a schedule of meetings with heads of state.
Trump and Mamdani told reporters they discussed a potential housing project in Queens and ways to make the city more affordable for working-class residents. The two have met at least twice before, though Mamdani has largely kept quiet about the extent of his ongoing contact with the president.
Their first meeting came shortly after Mamdani's election win last year, when the two held an unexpectedly warm sit-down in the Oval Office focused on the city, following months of public sparring between them. In February, Mamdani returned to Washington to present Trump with a mock New York Daily News front page reading "Trump to City: Let's Build," as part of his pitch for new housing investment.
As in their earlier meetings, the two leaders acknowledged their political differences even as they stood side by side. Asked about Trump's decision to bar certain news outlets from the White House, Mamdani said it was important those networks be present at the Gracie Mansion event. Trump, defending the restrictions, argued the outlets' coverage of him was biased, saying, "I think that these outlets have an obligation to be fair."
Trump's past visits to Gracie Mansion include attending former Mayor Rudy Giuliani's wedding in 2003 and a 2007 book party for former Democratic congressman Charles Rangel.
After Trump departed, Mamdani stayed back to speak with reporters, saying he and the president have sharp disagreements but that their working relationship has held up regardless. "I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly, anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city," he said.
