New York governor Kathy Hochul on Monday said her advice helped Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani navigate his first high-stakes meeting with president Donald Trump, a meeting that ended on a surprisingly friendly note and eased fears of federal intervention in New York City. Hochul said she spoke to Mamdani before he visited the White House on Friday. She told him he needed to show Trump that he had firm control over the city and could be trusted to handle safety and governance without outside pressure. According to her, it was important to give the president “confidence” so he would not send the National Guard into the city. “He has already hit the ground running,” Hochul said at a press event in the Bronx, reported New York Post. “And I have the confidence in him that I wanted the president to have as well: that we don’t need any interventions,” she added, The meeting produced an unusual scene in the Oval Office. Trump openly praised Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who has publicly called him a “fascist”. The president also stepped back from his threat to deploy the National Guard after Mamdani assured him that crime control would remain a priority. He also told Trump he planned to keep NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch in place. “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help because I want New York City to be great,” Trump said.
Hochul also said she encouraged Mamdani to look for areas where he could work with Trump. She pointed to her own talks with the president, which she said helped push forward the long-delayed Penn Station redevelopment. However, Hochul stopped short of saying that Trump would drop his threat to cut federal funding for the city. She noted only that the outcome of Friday’s meeting had reduced tension. “I believe we are in a better place this Monday than we were Friday going into that meeting,” she said. “The president had a chance to see someone, as I have, who has the capacity and the vision that the city needs at this time.” Hochul added that Mamdani called her the day after his White House visit to thank her for the guidance. “I told him I thought he did everything he needed to do to make sure the president has confidence in his leadership,” she said.
