Donald Trump announced Wednesday evening that he would meet with New York’s newly elected Democratic mayor, Zohran Mamdani. The meeting will take place on Friday, during a visit to the Oval Office. Coming from the left wing of the Democratic Party and a staunch opponent of the Republican president, the candidate for mayor of the largest city in the United States said that he was ready, after being elected in early November, to dialogue with Donald Trump on the “cost of living”, which is at the heart of Americans’ concerns.
“The communist mayor of New York, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, requested that we meet. We have decided that this meeting will take place in the Oval Office on Friday, November 21,” wrote the American president. Kwame is Zohran Mamdani’s middle name, a tribute to the great figure of the struggle for independence in Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah.
Posing as a figure of resistance to the president, Zohran Mamdani widely used Donald Trump as a scarecrow during his campaign, accusing him of “fascism”. Donald Trump did the same, telling Americans they were now faced with “a choice between communism and common sense.”
Zohran Mamdani announced at the end of the campaign that he would oppose immigration police intervention in the city, noting that New York was built with the contributions of foreigners.
“We contacted the White House, and my team did so because of the commitment I made to New Yorkers: I was willing to meet with anyone, as long as it was in the best interests of this city’s 8.5 million residents and their difficulties in finding a place to live in the most expensive city in the United States,” said Zohran Mamdani.
