Mamdani at Trump's, 'communist' mayor enters White House

Trump has repeatedly attacked New York's next mayor (in office since January) calling him a 'communist', 'radical' and 'lunatic', threatening to revoke his citizenship (he was born in Uganda to Indian parents), arrest and deport him. He threatened the cancellation of billions of dollars of federal funds to the city that elected him. And hypothesised sending in federal troops. He had also supported to the last the mayoral race of an old foe, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, to try to stop the rise of the 34-year-old Mamdani.The incoming mayor hit back. In celebrating his election he said New York would be a 'beacon of light in a time of political darkness', a model of how to 'defeat the president and stop the next Trump'.

He called Trump a 'despot' harbouring 'corruption' and said he would defend immigrants from ICE border guard raids, transformed by the administration into an army with a mandate to intervene anywhere in the country and first and foremost in urban centres governed by Democrats. And he defended a left-wing populist agenda as an alternative to conservative populism, from free buses to rent freezes to support on the international front for Palestinian rights.

However, some signs of a potential thaw were not lacking, facilitated by the needs of both. Mamdani must prove that he does not suffer from inexperience. And Trump aspires to respond to the demand for change that has sustained the mayor. The president privately called Mamdani a talented politician. And after his success he turned his attention to the workhorse of the newly elected first citizen, the focus on 'affordability', the growing economic hardship of the working and middle classes. Mamdani emphasised that his priority today is to defend New York and to 'leave no stone unturned'.

And he cited points of contact with Trump: 'For many voters this is a meeting of two very different candidates for whom they voted for the same reason, they wanted a leader who would address the cost of living crisis that makes it impossible for working people to live in the city'. Certainly, among the more high-profile New York projects for which he is counting on federal funding are the Gateway Tunnel between the city and New Jersey, a new underground line, and the renovation of Penn Station.