Mamdani Brands Trump 'Fascist' – But Strikes Unlikely Pact Over New York's Soaring Living Costs

New York's incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has openly called President Donald Trump a 'fascist' and a 'despot', yet he maintains they can, and must, work together to tackle a crisis that transcends politics: the city's rising cost of living. In a candid interview on NBC's Meet the Press, following a White House meeting on 21 November 2025, Mamdani reiterated his sharp criticism of Mr Trump while stressing pragmatism on the affordability agenda.

He argued that New Yorkers' daily struggles with housing, childcare, and grocery costs require results, not theatre, and that federal cooperation will be essential to deliver them. The apparent cordiality in the Oval Office, complete with a moment when Trump joked, 'it's OK, you can just say yes' when asked whether he was a fascist, has produced an uneasy détente that observers say is political theatre with policy implications.

Mamdani's Line: Principles Intact, Partnership Possible

Zohran Mamdani did not retract the language he had used previously to describe Mr Trump. On Meet the Press, he reaffirmed that he still regards the President as a 'fascist' and a 'despot', framing the remark as a moral judgement distinct from his willingness to engage on policy. Mamdani said bluntly that naming what he sees as dangerous tendencies is part of democratic accountability, but that naming does not preclude cooperation where there is clear overlap in interests.

That distinction is central to Mamdani's pitch to New Yorkers: blunt about ideology, transactional about outcomes. He told NBC that both he and Trump appear to recognise the same core problem confronting city households–the deepening 'cost-of-living crisis'–and that pragmatic federal support could help unlock changes at the municipal level. Analysts note this is a familiar posture for incoming executives who must shift from campaigning to governing, particularly in a city of some 8.5 million residents where small improvements in housing or transit can have outsized political payoff.

Where They Meet: Affordability, Zoning, And Federal Levers

Mamdani identified shared concerns with the White House that cut across party lines: housing supply, zoning reform, quicker permitting, and targeted federal funding to ease costs for working families. He emphasised items on his campaign list, free or subsidised childcare, expanded transit options, and measures to lower everyday expenses, and said he would pursue them regardless of the political label of funding sources.

Policy experts caution that the rhetorical meeting of minds masks hard trade-offs. Zoning reform and faster approvals require sustained local political capital and often encounter resistance from powerful neighbourhood coalitions; federal dollars can help finance affordable units, but typically come with strings and cannot solve supply constraints alone. Economists also warn that short-term relief measures, for example, subsidies for groceries or utilities, are politically easier than structural solutions that increase housing stock, which take years to yield measurable price relief. Those technical realities mean that, even if Washington and City Hall agree on priorities, delivering measurable reductions in day-to-day costs for New Yorkers will be difficult and slow.

Politics Of The Photo Op: Symbolism Over Substance?

The Oval Office meeting produced images and soundbites that will play well for both men. For Trump, the handshake and jokes with a figure he had previously derided as a 'communist' are proof of political dominance and normalcy. For Mamdani, the embrace of engagement over ostracism demonstrates a mayor-elect ready to fight for constituents by any available means. Yet several reporters and political analysts argue the encounter's immediate political value, a signal that even ideological opponents can cooperate, may not translate into rapid policy wins for New Yorkers.

Mamdani has repeatedly said that results will be the metric by which his administration is judged; voters, meanwhile, will watch wage and price trends closely. If federal cooperation produces concrete projects, targeted rental construction, federal rent subsidies, or streamlined funding for childcare, Mamdani could claim early victories. But if the meeting remains largely symbolic, scrutiny will focus on whether the mayor-elect sacrificed leverage or principle for optics.

The Human Stakes: Families, Workers, And Streets

Behind the political choreography lies the human drama Mamdani returned to throughout his campaign: working families unable to pay rent, gig workers priced out of neighbourhoods they serve, and parents who spend hours securing childcare. Those stories, he argues, demand urgent remedies rather than partisan purity. He told Meet the Press he'd use 'any and every' avenue to deliver relief, a line that resonates with voters for whom ideological labels are secondary to opening a path to stability.

Yet delivering those remedies will test Mamdani's negotiation skills and his ability to translate White House goodwill into durable resources and policy change. The next months will show whether this rapprochement was a brief photo opportunity or the start of a working relationship that eases the escalating costs that define life in New York.

Mamdani's position is simultaneously uncompromising in rhetoric and pragmatic in method, a political tightrope that now will be measured in policy, not pronouncement.