Trump, Mamdani, face-to-face for third time: ‘I hope he’ll be a great mayor; he’s got great potential’

Donald Trump met with Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York. It was the third in-person meeting between the president and the Democratic mayor. On this occasion, they met on the eve of the start of the 81st United Nations (UN) General Assembly, which brings together heads of state in the Big Apple.

The meeting began around 4:00 p.m. on Monday and, according to Mamdani's office, focused on the main issues affecting the city and New Yorkers.

Once the meeting was over, Trump and Mamdani held a joint press conference outside the residence. There, the president praised the mayor and said he has "great potential."

"I certainly hope he will be a great mayor. You have to understand. I want what's good for New York. I want what's good for the country. So if I had a choice of having him be a bad mayor or horrible mayor, I don't want that. I want him to be a great mayor, and he’s certainly got potential. He’s got great potential," Trump said.

In addition, the president highlighted the importance of and state of preservation of Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City since 1942, when then-Mayor Fiorello La Guardia moved there. "It's a beautiful place when you go inside, and I've seen it with numerous different mayors. And I saw some great ones and some not-so-great ones. So, hopefully, you're gonna be a great one. I'll be able to say you're gonna be a great one, and you're off to a start. So I just want to thank the mayor for the invitation," the Republican added.

For his part, Mamdani stated that he will work with "anyone no matter what party they belong to, no matter how much we may disagree on other topics" to improve the lives of New Yorkers. "I appreciate the conversations the president and I have had on the subject of how we can make it easier to afford life in this great city that we call our home," he added.

It was the third in-person meeting between Trump and Mamdani. The first took place in November 2025, shortly after Mamdani won the New York mayoral election, when the two met in the Oval Office at the White House. The second took place in February 2026, also at the White House. In February, Mamdani brought Trump a fictional front page of the New York Daily News with the headline “Trump to City: Let's Build,” a reference to the famous 1975 front page "Ford to City: Drop Dead.” The president posed smiling with the model for a photo.