President Donald Trump and Gov. Kathy Hochul‘s (D-NY) Friday morning meeting at the White House ended without any formal agreement on congestion pricing or energy policies.
The White House did not release a readout of the meeting, but a Hochul spokesman released a statement calling the conversation “productive.”
“Governor Hochul and President Trump covered a broad range of topics in today’s meeting, including the redevelopment of Penn Station, congestion pricing, tariffs, and energy policy,” Jerrel Harvey said. “While no formal agreements or decisions were reached, it was a productive conversation and we look forward to continuing the dialogue in the coming weeks.”
Hochul and Trump have clashed in the past over embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams and over cooperation with federal immigration authorities, with the topic of Manhattan’s congestion pricing toll program that imposes a $9 toll, being one of the latest disagreements between the two leaders.
Trump has advocated ending the toll program, sometimes with dramatic language.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last month that the White House reshared on X. “Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Trump’s comment came after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced his department was rescinding its approval of the program.
“New York hasn’t labored under a king in over 250 years—we sure as hell aren’t going to start now,” Hochul shot back.
On Thursday, Hochul told political commentator Molly Jong-Fast that Trump “spent a lot of time in New York City last summer. Why? Well, he had 34 convictions.”
Trump’s conversation with Republican detractors of congestion pricing caused him to start “drinking the Kool-Aid,” Hochul said of Trump’s opposition.
But congestion pricing was not the sole topic of the conversation with Trump.
“The governor was here to talk about the pipeline that President Trump is very determined to get passed in the New England and New York area,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday morning.
Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to pressure Hochul to approve the Constitution Pipeline, which would carry natural gas through upstate New York. In 2020, New York did not issue a water permit for the pipeline, effectively blocking the project amid the protests of environmentalists.
“If New York, Connecticut, and New England had their Pipelines, savings from Heating alone would go down $2,300 per family — When you add Air Conditioning, and other things, you would have a $5,000 savings per family,” Trump wrote. “All we need is a simple approval from New York.”
“New York State has held up this project for many years, but we won’t let that happen any longer,” Trump also threatened. “We will use federal approval!”
HOCHUL MAKES LAST-DITCH CONGESTION PRICING BID TO TRUMP WITH ‘NICE COLORS’ AND ‘BIG WORDS’
Despite the past hostility between Trump and Hochul, the president appointed the New York governor to the Council of Governors last month.
Hochul’s visit to the White House on Friday signals her willingness to find solutions that she and Trump can agree on.