Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) play-nice approach to President Donald Trump has become an early template for Zohran Mamdani as he prepares for a White House clash as New York City mayor.
Since winning the mayorship last week, Mamdani has made clear he would not “mince” words with Trump, who taunts him as a “communist” and threatened to pull funding from New York City if he won.
But Mamdani has also promised to keep the “door open” to working with him on affordability, the signature issue of his upstart campaign, and previously committed not to be “reflexive” in helping or opposing the White House.
On Tuesday, Mamdani revealed that he would call the president before taking office on Jan. 1, describing their relationship as “critical” to the success of New York City.
“I’ll say that I’m here to work for the benefit of everyone who calls the city home and that wherever there is a possibility for working together towards that end, I’m ready,” Mamdani told a local NBC affiliate. “And if it’s to the expense of those New Yorkers, I will fight it.”
If that message sounds familiar, it’s because Hochul has handled Trump the same way since he returned to Washington in January. Early on, she made repeated trips to the White House to build rapport and has forged a delicate working relationship that defies the sort of feuding the president relishes with other Democrats in his old home state.
In an echo of that outreach, Mamdani says he will be “proactive” when it comes to tamping down tensions, particularly on immigration enforcement, with the president.
Hochul’s relationship with Trump is far from friendly, and she has sporadically sparred with him in public. Last month, Hochul accused him of trying to “defund the police” when his administration withheld $34 million in counterterrorism grants earmarked for New York transit.
Yet Hochul has also shown a willingness to cooperate with Trump on energy policy and earlier this month agreed to issue permits for one of his priorities, an underwater gas pipeline. On other projects, she has dug in, including his desire to scrap a new congestion toll into Manhattan.
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“She treats me very much nicer to my face than she does to the public,” Trump said in a radio interview last year.
It remains to be seen how serious Mamdani is about finding common ground with Trump. Mamdani offered a more confrontational stance on election night, declaring that Trump’s “authoritarian administration” was one of the “twin crises” facing New York alongside the cost of living.
There is also an ideological gulf between Mamdani, a socialist, and Hochul, a relative centrist.
Regardless, Mamdani has a lot at stake for his city and less leverage than Hochul. Trump, who endorsed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral race, said he would not let Mamdani “squander” the federal money that flows to New York, and his aides have already begun to draw up lists of projects for review, according to Bloomberg.
The city is also bracing for stepped-up immigration enforcement after federal agents targeted street vendors in a Chinatown raid last month. Mamdani is opposed to cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, unlike outgoing Mayor Eric Adams.
In a worst-case scenario for Democrats, Trump has suggested he might send the National Guard into New York City, as he has in other Democratic-run cities, as part of a crackdown on crime. Mamdani said Tuesday that he is speaking with Hochul about how to respond to Trump’s threats.
“I mean, do I see the seeds of conflict? Yes. I think it clearly will require some combination of skill and backbone on the part of Mamdani. And I believe he has the backbone, and we’ll see if he has the skill,” said Bob Liff, a longtime political consultant in New York.
It is not unprecedented for New York City mayors to butt heads with the White House. Adams, a Trump ally, was a frequent critic of President Joe Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis, with their relationship all but severed by the time the Justice Department prosecuted Adams on corruption charges that the Trump administration later dropped.
Trump’s broadsides against Mamdani have been particularly hostile, however. Trump, like the rest of the GOP, has made Mamdani a boogeyman for socialism, warning that he will “destroy” the city with his promise of rent controls, free buses, and government-run grocery stores.
When it comes to immigration enforcement, Trump has threatened to arrest or even deport Mamdani if city officials refuse to cooperate. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and came to the United States as a child, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018.
Trump’s rhetoric has been more muted since Mamdani’s election. When asked about Mamdani’s promise to fight him as mayor, Trump told Fox News, “He has to be a little bit respectful of Washington, because if he’s not, he doesn’t have a chance of succeeding.”
“And I want to make him succeed. I want to make the city succeed,” Trump added.
Separately, Trump told business leaders at a forum in Miami that his administration will “help” Mamdani, though he says his interest is in New York City, not the success of his mayorship.
“We want New York to be successful. We’ll help him. A little bit, maybe,” Trump said.
Jabari Brisport, a Mamdani ally who represents Brooklyn in the state Senate, said he did not see the shift as an olive branch so much as Trump “probably wrestling with the fact that he has a lot of business in New York and a lot of donors in New York.”
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“And he can’t, you know, torch the city politically, without also hurting people that are close to him,” Brisport told the Washington Examiner, alluding to Trump’s decades spent as a Manhattan real estate developer.
Trump is just one of the elected officials who will decide the fate of Mamdani’s mayorship. He must also cooperate with legislators in Albany and Hochul herself as he seeks new sources of revenue to pay for his agenda.
Hochul, who is up for reelection next year, has opposed raising income taxes, as Mamdani campaigned on during the mayor’s race, and recently cast doubt on his plans for free city bus service.
Still, Hochul, who offered Mamdani a late endorsement in September, has expressed interest in partnering with him on a program to expand access to childcare in New York.
“I think she will sense it’s politically in her favor to do something big on childcare,” said Brisport. “And I think it’s on Zohran and the movement to make sure that it is funded appropriately, and that it actually makes childcare more affordable for New Yorkers.”
To some extent, Mamdani will be relying on Hochul and Letitia James, the state attorney general, to oppose the president’s actions in court. Mamdani has promised to “Trump-proof” New York City, but has few options to counter the administration on his own.
He’s pledged to protect the personal data of migrants in the country illegally and proposed tens of millions in new funding for legal defense services.
“People have to understand their jurisdiction first. You can fight, you can make statements, but understand the limitations of your authority within the jurisdiction of whatever you’re governing – mayor, city, governor, state,” said Joseph Addabbo, who represents Trump’s hometown borough of Queens in the state Senate.
Mamdani’s overtures to Trump are not the only sign he is mindful that running New York City will look different than the aspirational rhetoric of his campaign.
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Liff, the political consultant, noted that Mamdani has chosen experienced hands as deputies. Mamdani also asked the city’s police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, to stay in her role, likely to address unease over his since-disavowed calls to abolish the department. Tisch has supported stricter cash bail policies.
“He’s not trimming his sails, but he’s demonstrated a pragmatic streak,” Liff said.