LIVE: Trump and Mamdani meeting at the White House (FULL)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much. We've just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting. We have one thing in common. We want this city of ours that we love to do very well. And I wanted to congratulate the mayor. He really ran an incredible race against a lot of smart people,

starting with the early primaries against some very tough people, very smart people. And he beat him and he beat him easily. And I congratulated him. And we talked about some things in very strong common, like housing and getting housing built and food and prices. And the price of oil is coming way down. Anything I do is going to be good for New York. If I can get prices down, that's good for New York.

And we've got them down way down from from last year. We have, as you know, I've been saying to a lot of people, Walmart said that Thanksgiving this year is exactly 25 percent less than last year. So that's good for New York. Good for everybody. But I just want to congratulate.

I think you're going to have hopefully a really great mayor. The better he does, the happier I am. I will say it is no difference in party. There's no difference in anything. And we're going to be helping him to make everybody's dream come true. Having a strong and very safe New York.

And congratulations, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Please. I appreciated the meeting with the President. And as he said, it was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City, and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers,

the eight and a half million people who call our city their home who are struggling to afford life in the most expensive city in the United States of America. We spoke about rent. We spoke about groceries. We spoke about utilities.

We spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out. And I appreciated the time with the president. I appreciated the conversation. I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.

Thank you very much. Any questions? Please.

President Trump, Stephen Nelson from the New York Post.

I've got a question for you and then also one for Mayor Elect.

Sure.

For you, you refer to Mr. Montani as a communist.

Can you describe why you feel that way?

And also, will you do anything to stop him from arresting Prime Minister Netanyahu if

he visits New York? Well, we didn't discuss your second part of the question.

And on your first part, I mean, he's got views out there, but who knows? I mean, we're going to see what works or he's going to change also. We all change. I change a lot. Change a lot. From when I first came to office, it's now quite a while ago.

It's quite a while. My first term was great. We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. We're doing even better now. We're doing much better now than we did even the first term. And I can tell you some of my views have changed. And we had discussions on some things.

I'm not going to discuss what they were, but that I feel very confident that he can do a very good job. I think I think he's going to be I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually, and some very liberal people. He won't surprise him because they already like him.

And Mr. Romani, it sounds like you had a productive discussion, but just days ago, you heard President Trump as a despot who betrayed the country. You said it's worse than you're accused of having a fascist agenda. Are you planning to retract any of these remarks in order to improve your relationship?

I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views. And what I really appreciate about the president is the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers. And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of the eight and a half million people who are currently struggling under a cost of living crisis with one in

four living in poverty. And the meeting came back again and again to what it could look like to lift those New Yorkers out of struggle and start to deliver them a city that they could do more than just

struggle to afford it, but actually start to live in it. And I've been called much worse than a despot, so it's not. It's not that insulting. Maybe I think it'll change his mind after we get to working together. Yes, please. I would like to ask you a question about the Middle East.

You said that Hezbollah in Lebanon is not in a good position, and Lebanon now is the final unresolved after Gaza and Syria. Given your assessment, guys, what do you say for the Lebanese today? It's an independent state, Lebanon. And what is your next move to push toward disarmament?

Sure.

Well, we are pushing for total disarmament of Hamas and frankly, everybody else. And we actually have peace in the Middle East. As you know, the king of Saudi Arabia just left yesterday. We had some great meetings and he's made a contribution toward the United States of more than a trillion dollars. We have now over 20 trillion dollars coming into no country has ever had anything like

that, not even close. If you go to 2 trillion or 1 trillion, it's a lot. We have 20 or 21 trillion dollars. I think that Hezbollah has been a problem and Lebanon, big problem. We're working with Lebanon. We're working with everybody in the Middle East. That's another thing I think we have in common. We want to see peace in the Middle East. And we actually have now for the first time peace in the Middle East after 3000 years.

And now we're going to refine it. And I think you're going to see some very positive things happen.

Oh, sure. Oh, I would.

I would do that.

Absolutely. And if the mayor would like to be here for that meeting, because I know he feels very strongly. I think you feel very, very strongly about peace in the Middle East.

We desperately want it. And that's something that I shared with the president that when I spoke to New Yorkers who had voted for the president last November on Hillside Avenue and Fordham Road, I asked them why I heard again and again, two major reasons. One was that they wanted an end to forever wars. They wanted an end to the taxpayer dollars we had funding violations of human rights. And they wanted to address the cost of living crisis.

And I appreciated the chance to discuss both of those things.

He said a lot of my voters actually voted for him and I'm one of them and I'm okay with

that.

I'll do that.

I'll sign it. Give it to me. I'll sign it in a minute.

That's that's pretty good. I think we're going to work them out.

And I think that if we have known murderers and known drug dealers and some very bad people, you know, we want to get them out. And the mayor wants to have peace. We discussed this at great length, actually, maybe more than anything else. He wants to have a safe New York. Ultimately, a safe New York is going to be a great New York.

If it's not safe, no matter how well we do with pricing and with anything else, we can talk about anything you want. If you don't have safe streets, it's not going to be a success. So we're going to work together. We're going to make sure that if there are horrible people there, we want to get them out. I think he wants to get them out maybe more than I do.

So we'll work together. We discussed it at great length. Yes, please.

Yeah, two questions. I may want for you, Mr. President, to be seen in a second, but first of all, to the Mayor of that, you're both from different parts of the political spectrum, you're both populist, and I just wondered to what extent the President's campaign style, his techniques, his social media, inspired any part of your campaign?

Well, I actually told the President that, you know, so much of the focus of our campaign has been on the cost of living crisis, And when we asked those New Yorkers who had voted for the president when we saw an increase in his numbers in New York City, that came back to the same issue, cost of living, cost of living, cost of living. And they spoke about the cost of groceries, the cost of rent,

the cost of con ed, the cost of child care. And too often, politicians are looking to lecture to New Yorkers what they should care about, as opposed to listen. And when we spoke to those voters who voted for President Trump, we heard them speak about cost of living. We focus on that same cost of living. And that's where I am really looking forward to delivering for New Yorkers in partnership with the president on the affordability agenda.

And I think we have to work a little bit. We talked about Con Edison. We have to work a little bit and get either prices because you know, we've gotten fuel prices way down, but it hasn't shown up in Con Edison and we're gonna have to talk to them. You know, if if we're saying sending them fuel at a much lower price than it was a year ago, which is true, we have

to get Con Edison to start lowering the rates. Absolutely. And last week may, last week you told me you were completely ahead with your plans to sue BDC for up to $5 billion. You're going to speak to Prime Minister Starmer as well. Is there any progress or any updates from BTC?

Well, we get along very well with the Prime Minister. We made a deal with UK. I like him. He's a fine person. And, you know, I think they have some big energy problems. You know, they've got windmills all over the place. They're going to have to start using other methods because their energy is out of control. Talking about in the UK, it's out of control.

And he's got that problem. He's got a big immigration problem, as you know, and he's got a big energy problem. And we talk about he's a good man. Prime Minister's a good man. I haven't spoken this week. I've spoken with their people. We have a plan.

It's horrible what's happening. It's a war that should have never happened. It would have never happened if I was president. And it's a shame. And I thought they should have acted quicker. But it's a cold winter and a lot of the, a lot of the, you talk about utilities, but

a lot of the big energy producing plants have been under attack, to put it mildly, to put it nicely. Yeah, we have a way of getting peace, or we think we have a way of getting peace. He's going to have to approve it. Just so sad. So many people, you know, last month they lost 25,000 soldiers. This is something we haven't seen anything like this. It's the Second World War. They're averaging six or seven thousand a week between the two of them dead soldiers, and it goes on and on. And

I think they're getting reasonably close, but it's I don't want to predict. I would have said that would have been one of my early ones. I did eight peace deals of countries, including in India, Pakistan. You could even go. In fact, they're coming here in a week or two. Go to the Congo and Rwanda. That was one 10 million people dead. And we worked something out on that. But so many and the one I thought would have been for me, because I have a very

good relationship with President Putin. I thought that would have been maybe quicker. But it's it does take two to tango. And now you just see all the death. And you know, it doesn't affect us other than the fact that we don't want to see all those people that really saw the other side of the ocean. It's a war that should have never happened. It did happen. I blame the person also sitting right behind this desk. This is a war that should have never happened, and it wouldn't have happened if I were president. But we're trying to save a lot of lives. We're losing. They're losing 25. Think of that 25,000 lives over the last

short period of time. That's Ukrainian and Russian and, uh, it's a shame.

I want to ask the mayor elect about a house resolution just passed overwhelmingly to condemn socialism, including with 86 Democrats, all of House Dem leadership, and the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, despite his endorsement of you. What's your reaction to that?

I have to be honest with you. I focus very little on resolutions. Frankly, I've been focusing.

Dem socialism.

I understand. I think the focus is on the work at hand. I can tell you I am someone who is a Democratic socialist. I've been very open about that and I know there might be differences about ideology, but the place of agreement is the work that needs to be done to make New York City affordable. That's what I look forward to.

And I want to clarify your answer to Stephen Nelson.

He asked about your comment calling the president a fascist.

And your answer was, both President Trump and I have been clear about our positions

and our views. Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?

I've spoken

about that. Okay, you can just say, Okay, it's easier. It's easier than explaining.

I don't want to ask you also about this Ukraine plan. Yeah, President Zelensky said today that his country would risk either giving up a partner or giving up his dignity. There's been criticism that this deal...

You mean he doesn't like it?

It's unclear.

He was sort of pretending...

Well, he'll have to like it. And if he doesn't like it, then, you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess, you

know. The suggestion that you made, though, was that if he doesn't accept it, that the U.S.

would pull back its support for Ukraine. Well, at some point, he's going to have to accept something. You know, he hasn't accepted. You remember right in the Oval Office not so long ago, I said, You don't have the cards. Don't forget, I inherited this war. I would have never this war never would have happened. I inherited this war, and I thought he should have made a deal a year ago, two years ago. The ultimate deal would have been if it never started. That would have been a good deal. That could have been done, too, if you had the right president. But you didn't have the right president.

Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, positive living is something that you and Mr. Mondani seem to agree on. Democrats have run New York City for a long time. Mr. Mondani, do you see Democrat policy specifically as being a problem? And I'd like that to be a question that both of you can answer.

Look, I think that there are many things in our city where we have to own the responsibility of it. Things that existed long before the president was the president. And those are also part of the message of our campaign was to take on a broken politics of the past. And I ran against a number of candidates who represented different versions of that past. And what we found time and again is that working people were left behind in the politics of our city.

And what we're looking to do is put those people right back at the heart of our politics so that we don't have a situation where we're in the wealthiest city in the history of the

world. of the world, and yet one in five can't even afford $2.90 for a MetroCard. Mr. President, you know, we had some interesting conversation, and some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have. But a big thing on cost, you know, the new word is affordability. Another word is just groceries. It's sort of an old-fashioned word, but it's very accurate. And they're coming down, They're coming down. They were, you know, we had both of us. We had the highest inflation in the history of

our country the last four years under the Biden administration. And we've got inflation down now to a normal number. It's going to go even a little bit lower than that. Katie, you have something in the president. Well, I don't know what you're referring to in terms of it could be covered by international

law and local law.

It's covered by a lot of laws, but it's covered by US law. Are you referring to anything in particular?

He just said that there are a city that endorses and enforces international law. Does that

have odds with-

No, I don't know. Would you want to respond?

I think what I've shared with the president is our desire to not only follow the laws of our own city, laws that protect New Yorkers, but also a desire for consistency in our politics across the board. And that's something that we've talked about and something that I know many New Yorkers want. We discussed ICE and New York City,

and I spoke about how the laws that we have in New York City allow for New York City government to speak to the federal administration for about 170 serious crimes. The concerns that many New York City government to speak to the federal administration for about 170 serious crimes. The concerns that many New Yorkers have are around the enforcement of immigration laws on New Yorkers across the five boroughs.

And most recently we're talking about a mother and her two children, how this has very little to do with what that is.

What we did is we discussed crime more than ice per se. We discussed crime and he doesn't want to see crime and I don't want to see crime and I have very little doubt that we're not going to get along on that issue. He wants to and he said some things that were very interesting, very interesting as to housing construction and he wants to see houses go up. He wants to see a lot of houses created, a lot of apartments built, etc. And you know, I, we, we actually, uh,

people would be shocked, but I want to see the same thing.

Jack.

I want to know one of the policies as well that, uh, Mayor like Montgomery talked a number of times about on the campaign was shifting the tax burden for property taxes from what he called minority communities to white-based communities and putting more taxes on white people. I also noticed that in your acceptance speech,

you didn't mention anything about America or Christians or white people in general. And so I didn't know if that was one of the policies that you guys had spoken about.

We focused on affordability. We focused on the cost of living crisis. What I will say is that I am very much interested in property tax reform, because what we see right now in New York City is a system that is so inequitable that it can't even stand up in court.

And the president and I spoke about the importance of not only building more housing, but also making sure that regulation of housing is something that is manageable to actually get through and not the cause of yet another weight that we see in our city.

But are you clear you're continuing this idea of race-based property taxes?

No, to be very clear. That's what you said. No, the use of the term was a description of neighborhoods, not a description of intent.

So you intend to tax the whiter neighborhoods more?

No, we intend to create a fair property tax system because we want a New York City that is not only fair and equitable, but also one that every New York can afford.

Mr. Montani, anti-Israel protesters just targeted a synagogue in New York. Aren't you concerned about Jewish New Yorkers feeling welcome and safe in the city? And President Trump, if you threaten to cut off federal funding to New York City, what policies would prompt you to do that? Would that be city-run grocery stores?

Would it be something else?

Well, I think if we didn't get along, whether it's cut off or just make it a little bit difficult or not give as much, we want to see a, I use the term, we don't want good money going after bad. We just, we don't want that to happen. I don't think that's going to happen. I did say that, you know, subject to what what policies are being said. We had a meeting today that actually surprised me. He wants to see no crime.

He wants to see housing being built. He wants to see rents coming down, all things that I agree with. Now, we may disagree how we get there. The rent coming down. I think one of the things I really gleaned very, very much today, we'd like to see him come down, ideally by building a lot of additional housing. That's the ultimate way he agrees with that. And so do I. But if I read the

newspapers and the stories, I don't hear I don't hear that. But I hear I heard him say it today. And I think that's a very positive step. No, I don't expect I expect to be helping him, not hurting him a big help because I want New York City to be great. Look, I love New York City. It's where I come from. I spent a lot of years there.

Now I'm right here. We took a big setback with a mayor that we had named de Blasio. I thought it was a tremendous setback for the city. I think this mayor can do some things that are going to be really great.

Okay, how about you? You go ahead, please. You're a billionaire. You've got a different address nowadays than you used to. You used to call New York City home. Would you feel

comfortable living in New York City under a mom and dad administration? Yeah, I would. I really would. Especially after the meeting. Absolutely.

And what makes you comfortable?

We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. I think he's, I want him to do a great job and we'll help him do a great job. You know, he may have different views, but in many ways, you know, we were discussing when Bernie Sanders was out of the race, I picked up a lot of his votes and people had no idea because he was strong on not getting ripped off in trade and lots of the things that I've practiced and have been very successful on

tariffs.

A lot of things. Bernie Sanders and I agreed on much more than people thought. And when he was put out of the race, I think quite unfairly, if you want to know the truth, many of the Bernie Sanders voters voted for me. And I felt very comfortable, frankly, in seeing that and saying that. And you know, just turned out to be a statistical truth.

But no, I feel very comfortable. I would be I would feel very, very comfortable being in New York. And I think much more so after the meeting. Yes, please.

Thank you, Mr. President. I have a question for you, but a very quick one for the mayor. Why did you fly here? Aren't trains greener?

I'll use every form of transit and I want to make sure that they're all affordable in New York City. And that's why making buses fast and free is a centerpiece of our community.

There is a bus that goes. Well, but, I know, but it'd be fluid. That's a lot quicker, too, though. You know, I mean, he's working very hard for him to be. That's a long, that's a very, that's a very long drive.

I'll stick up for you.

You know, the plane takes you 30 minutes and driving takes you a long time. report, there was this explosive report that the Coast Guard is no longer going to characterize swastikas and muses as hate symbols. DHS called that a lie and fake news. Can you clear up?

I don't know anything about it. When when was this written? Yesterday? Well, look, the Coast Guard is an incredible group of people. I know very well. We just ordered a lot of new Coast Guard cutters. beautiful, the most magnificent ship. They look like yachts with lots of guns on them. So I don't know. I haven't seen any report like that.

But certainly we want them to remain a great force.

And they are.

Mr. President, you did a piece in all the nine months around the world. I would like to ask Mr. Mondani, you accused the U.S. government of committing genocide in Gaza while President Trump was working on peace.

Why that?

I've spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide and I've spoken about our government funding it. And I shared with the president in our meeting about the concern that many New Yorkers have of wanting their tax dollars to go towards the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to afford basic dignity. And what we see right now is we're in the ninth consecutive year of more than 100,000 schoolchildren being homeless in our city.

And there's a desperate need not only for the following of human rights, but also the following through on the promises we've made New Yorkers. And I appreciated the meeting we had and the work that we can do.

Do you agree that President Trump didn't do a piece and work hard to make the piece because he worked hard to do the piece in the Middle East and everywhere. Do you agree with that?

I appreciate all efforts towards peace and I shared with President Trump that when I spoke to Trump voters on Hillside Avenue, including one of whom was a pharmacist that spoke about how President Trump's father actually went to that pharmacy not too far from Jamaica Estates, that people were tired of seeing our tax dollars fund endless wars. And I also believe that we have to follow through on the international human rights. And I know that still today, those are being violated. And that continues to be work that has to be done, no matter where we're speaking of.

Mr. President, do you view the mayor elect as the true leader of the Democrat Party? And do you think leaders, leaders, leaders, you know, have to follow his lead?

Well, look, I hope they have great leaders. This is a man that right now I think is focused on New York City. I really think he has a chance to do a great job. We're going to help him, but I really think he has a chance to do a great job. But I'll let you answer that. You consider yourself the leader of the Democrats.

I think it's more appropriate for him. I consider myself the next mayor of New York City and I keep my horizons firmly on New York City and I appreciate the meeting with the president, which focused again on the five boroughs and whether New Yorkers could afford to live there.

By the way, being the mayor of New York City is a big deal. I always said, you know, one of the things I would love to be someday is the mayor of New York City, being the mayor of New York, and especially now because I think you're really a turning point one way or the other. You could go great or it can go in a different direction. And I think you really have a chance to make it great.

I appreciate what you're saying.

Mr. President, you say you love New York City. Mr. Mondani, does New York City love President Trump?

New York City loves a future that is affordable. And I can tell you that there were more New Yorkers who voted for President Trump in the most recent presidential election because of that focus on cost of living. And I'm looking forward to working together to deliver on that affordability agenda.

I got a lot of votes.

One more.

Go ahead. One or two more.

Go ahead.

I tell you, the press has eaten this thing up. You know, I've had a lot of meetings with the heads of major countries. Nobody cared. This meeting that you people have gone, you know, outside, you have hundreds of people waiting. This is just a small little group. For some reason, the press has found this to be a very interesting meeting.

The biggest people in the world, they come over from countries. Nobody cares. But they did care about this meeting. And it was a great meeting.

Go ahead. Yeah, Mr. President, I was going to ask you exactly that. Why do you think there's so much more, you know, so much excitement around this?

Because I think he's different. All right. I think he's different. And that can be in a very positive way. You know, your typical guy runs, wins, becomes mayor, maybe, and nothing exciting.

Because he has a chance to really do something great for New York. New York is at a very critical

point. And he does need the help of the federal government to really succeed. And we're going to be helping him. But he's different than, you know, your average candidate. He came out of nowhere. I said he has a great campaign manager standing over there. He came out of he came out of nowhere. What you start off at one or two. And then I watched. I say, who is this guy? He was at one. And he was at three. Then it was at five. It was at nine. And he went up to 17. I said, Hmm, that's got a little bit of trust there. And then all of a sudden he wins a primary that nobody expected he was going to win. It's a great, great tribute.

It's an amazing thing that he did. And I'll just, I'll just add, I'll just add one thing to what the president said is one thing I also appreciated is in in our meeting to to appreciate a portrait of FDR and the incredible work that was done with the New Deal and also in thinking about what it can look like when the federal government and New York City government work together to deliver on affordability

can be transformative.

You know, we have a great portrait of FDR that I found in the vaults that was missing for years. I found it and I put it up. He's a Democrat to the best of my knowledge. He's a Democrat. And when the mayor saw that portrait, he said, Sir, do you mind if I have a picture taken by that point? It's an amazing portrait. The picture comes out good, but it's an amazing portrait in the cabinet room. So he's a big fan of

the New Deal, I guess. And yes, Mr. President. You said that you both spoke about crime. Yeah.

There are many police officers that come off the rolls at the end of this year in New York City. Are you going to allow those police to be replaced with police officers, actual cops? And are you going to require that that happens? Would there be some consequences?

Well, I hope it happens. But again, that's going to be ultimately the mayor's decision. Is that I look forward to delivering public safety with the NYPD and I've said over the course of our campaign that we have the number of police officers today. They are the ones that's budgeted about 35,000 headcount. And I think the key thing is that we have to make it easier for police to focus on police

work, not ask them to respond to 200,000 mental health calls a year. So is that a reduction from what you're at right now?

Are you committing to maintaining the same level of cops?

I've committed over the course of the campaign to maintain the 35,000. That's the headcount that we have through the campaign.

And not replace them with caseworkers, social workers?

No, I've said that's the headcount that we want. What we need to do is make sure they can focus on serious crime. And he just retained a great police commissioner, I believe, right? Yes, we did.

Commissioner. If the newspapers are correct.

That was correct.

He, uh, he retained, I think, somebody that is a good friend of some of the people in my family, Ivanka. And they say she's really good, really competent. And he just retained her.

So that's a good sign. Are there still topics that you see this meeting on in the future?

Do you think you'll have more meetings like this?

There will be topics that we disagree on. I think we'll probably come to a conclusion and ultimately he'll convince me or I'll convince him. You know, it's for the good of New York. Ultimately, it's for the good of New York. I don't care about affiliations or parties or anything else. I want to see if this city could be unbelievable. If he could be a spectacular success, I'd be very happy.

Do you think you'll meet again in the future?

I think we will. I think we hope we do. I enjoyed the meeting. Great meeting. Please.

Mr. President, Republican Elise Stefanik has campaigned multiple times by calling Zohra

Mamdani a jihadist. Do you think you're standing next to a jihadist right now in the Oval Office?

No, I don't. But she's out there campaigning. And you say things sometimes in a campaign. She's a very capable person. But you really have to ask her about that. But I don't particularly I think I met with a very I met with a man who's a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see

really wants to see New York be great again. And I can say again, because New York was great. You know, when I came down to Washington, initially, the city was so hot. It was doing great. We were having some telltale signs of problems. We had a mayor that was not doing a great job, but still it was moving along and it went bad. It really went, you know, pretty bad. And he can. I think it's been at lower points, but it went pretty bad. I think he can bring it back. Now the question is, we bring it

back all the way. Well, will he bring it back greater than ever before? Which is I guarantee that's his wish. I think he wants to make it greater than ever before. And if he can, we'll be out there cheering. I'll be cheering for him. Okay. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank out there cheering. I'll be cheering for him. Okay. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank

you very much. I care very deeply about Jewish safety and I look forward to rooting out anti-Semitism across the five boroughs and protecting Jewish New Yorkers and every New Yorker who calls the city hall. Thank you.