Kamal Ghorui
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday for a previously unannounced meeting that lasted about an hour, focusing on major new housing investments in the city while also addressing the arrest of a Columbia University student.After the meeting, Mamdani posted on X, “I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon. I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City.”As part of his visit, Mamdani presented Trump with a mock newspaper front page created by his team. It featured the headline, “Trump to City: Let’s Build” — a riff on the famous 1975 New York Daily News cover that read “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” referring to Gerald Ford’s vow to veto financial assistance to the city.Mamdani’s office declined to provide details about the housing proposal, but Anna Bahr, the mayor’s communications director, said Trump was “very enthusiastic” about it. She said that during their first one-on-one meeting at the White House in November, Trump encouraged Mamdani to return with an idea to build major projects together in New York City. Bahr added that the mayor’s team created the mock front page and headlines to show what kind of reaction new federal housing investments could generate. During Thursday’s meeting, Mamdani also raised the arrest of Columbia University student Ellie Aghayeva, who had been detained earlier in the day by federal immigration authorities. The arrest triggered protests on campus and allegations that agents gained entry to a university-owned residence by posing as police officers searching for a missing child.Just hours after detaining Aghayeva, the federal government reversed course and allowed her to walk free following what appeared to be an intervention by Donald Trump. Mamdani also gave White House chief of staff Susie Wiles a list of four other students targeted by federal authorities and asked for the administration’s help.“He has just informed me that she will be released imminently,” Mamdani wrote on social media, referring to Aghayeva.The rapid developments underscored the evolving relationship between Trump and Mamdani, a democratic socialist whom Trump once threatened to have deported. During the mayoral campaign, Trump repeatedly criticised Mamdani as a “communist,” but appeared more receptive after their November meeting.
