By: Jordan Baker

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is standing firmly behind his long-held view that President Donald Trump is a “fascist” and a “despot,” even as he insists he’s ready to collaborate with the president on solving the city’s affordability crisis — a contradiction that drew national attention over the weekend, the New York Post first reported.

Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Mamdani didn’t flinch when asked if he still considers Trump a fascist. “That’s something I’ve said in the past. I say it today,” he replied. But the Democratic Socialist quickly added that his policy priorities demand working with Trump, especially after what he described as a surprisingly productive meeting at the White House on Friday.

As the NY Post reported, the two politicians — who occupy opposite ends of the ideological spectrum — found common ground around what Mamdani called a “shared analysis” of New York’s housing and cost-of-living crisis. “What I appreciated about the conversation was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement,” he said. “We also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver for New Yorkers.”

During their joint press conference in the Oval Office, Mamdani was unexpectedly confronted by a reporter asking whether he still believed Trump was a fascist. Before Mamdani could pivot, Trump jumped in: “That’s OK. You can just say yes. It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.” The moment, the Post reported, underscored the strange cordiality between the mayor-elect and the president he routinely condemns.

Mamdani told Trump directly that his victory — like Trump’s own — was fueled by voter fears over soaring costs. He recounted speaking to residents in Queens and the Bronx who said they voted Republican for the first time because of inflation and housing prices. “They told me again and again it was cost of living, cost of living, cost of living,” he said on Sunday.

According to the NY Post, the mayor-elect said his meeting with Trump went deep into the bureaucratic and financial barriers that make it nearly impossible to build new housing in New York. Trump, a former real-estate developer, was eager to dive into the specifics, Mamdani said, including restrictive zoning rules and the notoriously slow Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). “A developer doesn’t tell you the thing more expensive than labor or materials is waiting,” Mamdani said, emphasizing the need for regulatory overhaul.

Mamdani also reiterated his push to raise income taxes on millionaires and corporate taxes — proposals that require Albany’s approval — to fund his ambitious agenda: free child care, free buses, and expanded affordable housing. But, he added, he’s open to alternative ways of raising money. “More important than how we fund something is that we fund something,” he said. “If there are alternate revenue streams, I will accept them.”