Mamdani reiterates Trump is a ‘fascist’ just days after cordial meeting | Donald Trump

Zohran Mamdani reiterated his view that Donald Trump is a “fascist” and a “despot” just days after the two men had a surprisingly cordial meeting at the White House.

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, the New York City mayor-elect was asked if he still views Trump as a threat to democracy. “Everything I said in the past, I continue to believe,” Mamdani responded. “I think it’s important in our politics that we don’t hesitate to express our disagreements.”

In his November 4 victory speech, Mamdani said New York had demonstrated that it could be the “light” in a “moment of political darkness,” by taking aim at the president. “If there is a way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power,” Mamdani said. “So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn up the volume.”

Given the intense rhetoric Trump has used against Mamdani in recent months, including calling him a “crazy communist,” the White House meeting was highly anticipated and expected to be controversial. Instead, it led to warm remarks, with Trump even saying, “I’m very confident in his ability to do a good job” and adding, “I think he’s going to surprise some conservatives, actually.” »

The two men agreed to work together on issues of housing, food prices and the cost of living, and bonded over a mutual love of New York. “We agreed a lot more than I thought we would,” Trump said in the Oval Office, intervening at times to shield Mamdani from aggressive questions from the press.

“It was a conversation where we talked about the need to stick to this agenda,” Mamdani said Sunday on NBC, saying he appreciated how the president took the time to tour him around the cabinet and show him portraits of previous presidents. “We didn’t shy away from the points of disagreement about the politics that brought us to this moment and we also wanted to focus on what that might look like.”

Mamdani also answered questions about his decision to retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, originally hired by former Mayor Eric Adams. “She brought down crime in all five boroughs while beginning to root out the corruption that was endemic in the upper echelons of this department under Mayor Adams,” Mamdani said.

Kevin Hasset, director of the National Economic Council, which works with the Treasury secretary to advance Trump’s economic agenda, praised the move on Sunday and said the White House was pleased with it.

“We are really reassured that [Mamdani has] kept the police commissioner. In previous administrations in New York, we saw law and order deteriorate,” Hassett told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union.

“Do the mayor-elect and I agree on everything? No, we don’t,” Tisch wrote in an email to rank-and-file officers, according to the New York Times. She supported Adams’ plan to hire 5,000 additional uniformed officers, while Mamdani said he wanted to maintain the same complement.