New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says he’s willing to work with President Trump but will put New York residents first.
WASHINGTON — Fresh off his election win, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he’s willing to work with President Donald Trump but will put New York residents first.
When asked Wednesday about their combative relationship during the mayoral campaign, Mamdani said he has repeatedly expressed a willingness to help the president fulfill some of the promises Trump made during his 2024 presidential campaign.
“I have said time and again that I will work with the president if he wants to work together to deliver on his campaign promises of cheaper groceries or a lower cost of living. But for too long, what New Yorkers have seen is a mayor who has been willing to work with the president at the expense of those New Yorkers,” Mamdani said on New York’s NY1 news channel.
“And I want to make it very clear that if the president looks to come after the people of this city, then I will be there standing up for them every step of the way.”
Mamdani addressed the Republican president directly and at length from the stage at his victory party in Brooklyn on Tuesday night.
“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” he said, before declaring, “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”
Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a naturalized American citizen after graduating from college, went on to cast himself as the embodiment of resistance.
“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” he said. “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Trump, who has spent months insulting Mamdani and warning that the city would be ruined if he won, seemed to be watching.
“…AND SO IT BEGINS!” he posted on social media as Mamdani spoke.
When does Mamdani become NYC mayor?
Democrat Zohran Mamdani will become mayor at a swearing-in ceremony on January 1, 2026.
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