Mamdani's Second Meeting with Trump Deemed Productive
By Reuters | 26 Feb, 2026

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani met for a second time with Trump at the White House to discuss the need for more housing in the city and secure release of the female Columbia student detained by ICE earlier Thursday.

.S. President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani shake hands as they meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 21, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he had a productive meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, discussing issues including housing and a federal immigration enforcement operation.

It marked the second meeting between the two men since Mamdani's mayoral election win late last year. Mamdani is a Democrat and Trump is a Republican. 

Mamdani posted a photo of himself with Trump on social media after the meeting. "I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon. I'm looking forward to building more housing in New York City," Mamdani wrote on X.

While both men have been critical of each other's policy positions in the past and hold radically different worldviews, their previous meeting in November was unexpectedly friendly.

Mamdani also said he raised concerns with Trump about the detention on Thursday of a Columbia University student by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and that Trump later informed him that she will be "released imminently."

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Daphne Psaledakis and Susan Heavey, editing by Michelle Nichols)