Trump praises Zohran Mamdani after New York meeting

US President Donald Trump praised New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday after the two met in Manhattan to discuss immigration enforcement and a multi-billion-dollar housing proposal.

The closed-door talks lasted about an hour and marked their third public meeting since Mamdani won the mayoral election last year.

“Hopefully, you're going to be a great mayor,” Trump told Mamdani at a news conference. “I'll be able to say you're going to be a great one, and you're off to a start.”

Mamdani said he expressed “very strong opinions about how we can keep New Yorkers safe” when asked about Trump's culling of Temporary Protected Status for thousands of immigrants as part of mass deportation plans.

The mayor said they also discussed a 12,000-home building proposal in New York that would require an estimated $21 billion in federal government funding. He said he planned to keep cooperating with Trump despite their “many disagreements”.

“We appreciate the president's commitment to the city,” Mamdani said.

Trump, a Republican, had heavily criticised Mamdani before he took office in January, but the two have since developed a warmer public relationship.

Trump visited New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly. The visit came as top US television networks essentially boycotted coverage of the president in protest against his decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.

Mamdani said he told Trump that all members of the press would be welcome at their joint press conference. Trump dismissed a suggestion that the media bans were meant to distract from criticism of the war in Iran.