NEW YORK — President Donald Trump has all the power in his Oval Office sit down Friday with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. And his advantage over the incoming mayor is vast.

The temperamental president has vowed to cut New York’s federal aid and may deploy the National Guard in response to Mamdani’s win. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan is again threatening to flood the city’s streets with immigration enforcement officers and conduct mass deportations. The president’s Congressional allies have pressed for the Ugandan-born mayor-elect’s citizenship to be revoked.

“The city or the state cannot do without the federal government and the federal government holds the money,” said John Catsimatidis, a billionaire oil executive and grocery store tycoon who speaks frequently with Trump. “Look, the president is going to do whatever he wants to do. He loves New York, no if’s, and’s about it. He loves New York, but he doesn’t love that the socialists are taking over New York.”

The much-anticipated meeting between the two diametrically opposed leaders will set the tone for the city’s future for the next four years. It contains a broader significance for Trump, who has sought to control the political destiny of deep blue cities while Democrats try to claw back into national power. He’s feuded with Democratic mayors in Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles — fights that New York officials desperately want to avoid. For Mamdani, whose far-left candidacy deeply divided his party, Trump presents a difficult and likely ongoing dilemma. The mayor-elect can’t afford Trump punishing the city or having his power clipped over the next four years. But appeasing him — or appearing to cow to him — will not be well-received by the supporters who propelled him into City Hall.

Mamdani is in the hotseat to prove that he can lead a deeply complex city. The first test is contending with its most powerful native son.

Nervous Democrats in the city and skeptical business leaders are closely watching the meeting as an early determination of whether the 34-year-old backbench state assemblymember can forge a working relationship with the mercurial Trump. They want to ensure that key construction efforts — like the Gateway tunnel between New York and New Jersey, the Second Avenue subway line and an overhaul of Penn Station — will continue with federal support.

Empire State Republicans have raised their concerns about Mamdani directly to Trump. Catsimatidis suggested to the president the federal government take over the city’s finances if the Mamdani administration is fiscally irresponsible. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the sole Republican House lawmaker from New York City, spoke with the president at Mar-a-Lago last week about the implications of the democratic socialist leading the city, she said in an interview.

State officials fear Trump will seize on Mamdani’s past support for slashing police budgets and send federal troops to the Big Apple, as he has done in other cities around the country.

Tone: The meeting was unexpectedly cordial and productive, a sharp contrast to the previous “war of words” where Trump called Mamdani a “communist lunatic” and Mamdani labeled Trump a “despot”. Both leaders praised each other afterward.

Topics Discussed: The focus was on shared concerns regarding New York City, primarily:
Affordability and cost of living.

Housing and construction.
Crime and public safety.

Outcomes: Both men committed to working together despite their significant political differences. Trump expressed confidence in Mamdani’s ability to lead the city, stating, “The better he does, the happier I am”.

Notable Moments: At one point, when a reporter asked Mamdani if he still thought Trump was a “fascist,” Trump interjected with a pat on the arm and joked, “That’s OK, you can just say yes”.
This meeting sets the tone for future federal-city relations, which could be consequential for the nation’s largest city. Mamdani will officially take office as mayor on January 1, 2026.