Trump to Meet NYC Mayor Mamdani During UN General Assembly

President Donald Trump is set to visit Gracie Mansion on Monday for an in-person meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the city’s democratic socialist leader.

The visit coincides with the arrival of world leaders in Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also expected to speak.

Trump and Mamdani will meet at the mayor’s official residence on the Upper East Side, marking their third known face-to-face encounter and their first meeting in New York.

City Hall provided little information Sunday about the issues the two leaders are expected to discuss.

“The meeting will focus on issues affecting New York City and New Yorkers,” Mamdani’s office said.

The White House confirmed the meeting but did not release further details. No public time has been announced.

The meeting comes during a tense and highly political week in New York, as the annual gathering of world leaders brings sweeping road closures, motorcades and heightened security to Manhattan.

Trump is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday, alongside a busy diplomatic agenda that includes meetings with several foreign leaders.

Netanyahu’s arrival could create an especially difficult political test for Mamdani.

For years, Mamdani has been an outspoken critic of Netanyahu and Israel’s military conduct in Gaza.

The mayor said last week that he would not participate in protests tied to the gathering, while adding that the NYPD was preparing for the event.

Mamdani has previously labeled Netanyahu a “war criminal” and said the Israeli prime minister “belongs in The Hague,” a reference to the International Criminal Court.

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Gaza. 

Netanyahu and Israel have denied the allegations, while Israel is not a member of the ICC.

During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani also pledged to arrest Netanyahu if he traveled to New York. He later acknowledged the legal limits on the authority of City Hall.

The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC, and the Trump administration has strongly opposed the court’s case against Israeli officials.

The administration is now preparing wider sanctions against the ICC over its pursuit of Netanyahu, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Mamdani himself was coy last week when asked whether he would sit down with Trump while the president was in town.

‘When it comes to the president, we continue to have a conversation about how best to deliver for this city,’ he said.

‘That is a conversation that has been done in person, it’s been done over the phone, and it will continue so long as either of us have the ability to deliver for the city.’

For two politicians separated by enormous ideological differences, their relationship has repeatedly proved warmer than many expected.

During the 2025 mayoral campaign, Trump called Mamdani a ‘100% Communist Lunatic,’ while Mamdani positioned himself as a determined opponent of the president’s agenda.

Yet when Mamdani traveled to the White House after winning the election, their first encounter produced a surprisingly cordial display.

Trump even suggested the mayor-elect could ‘surprise some conservative people.’

‘We have one thing in common,’ Trump said following that November meeting. ‘We want this city of ours that we love to do very well.’

Mamdani returned to the White House in February for another private sit-down, where housing was among the issues discussed.