Mamdani maintains Trump a ‘fascist’ despite cordial White House meeting

The incoming NYC politician says helium inactive believes the US president is simply a fascist, 2 days aft they had a affable meeting.

New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says helium inactive believes United States President Donald Trump is simply a fascist, contempt a amazingly lukewarm gathering betwixt the 2 politically polarised men astatine the White House this week.

“That’s thing that I’ve said successful the past; I accidental it today,” Mamdani, a self-described antiauthoritarian socialist, said astir the Republican president successful an interrogation aired connected NBC News connected Sunday.

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Mamdani’s comments came 2 days aft he met with Trump, mounting speech months of communal recriminations and promising to cooperate connected the city’s future.

Trump, who grew up successful New York, called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” successful a societal media station pursuing the incoming mayor’s predetermination victory, and Mamdani has said Trump was attacking democracy.

During their meeting, Trump, who had antecedently suggested the Ugandan-born New Yorker should beryllium deported, adjacent came to his rescue arsenic the 2 addressed reporters astatine the White House.

When a writer asked Mamdani if helium continued to presumption Trump arsenic a fascist, the president stepped in.

“That’s OK. You tin conscionable accidental it. That’s easier,” Trump told Mamdani. “It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”

Mamdani elaborated his basal further successful the NBC interview.

“[What] I appreciated astir the speech that I had with the president was that we were not shy astir the places of disagreement, astir the authorities that person brought america to this moment,” helium said.

“I recovered the gathering that I had with the president a productive 1 and a gathering that came backmost again and again to the cardinal themes of the run that we ran: the outgo of housing, outgo of childcare, the outgo of groceries, the outgo of utilities.”

After threatening to chopped national funding to the US’s biggest metropolis and to nonstop successful the US National Guard, Trump praised Mamdani’s historical predetermination triumph during their meeting, saying helium could bash a “great job”.

“We’ve conscionable had a large … precise productive meeting. We person 1 happening successful common: we privation this metropolis of ours that we emotion to bash precise well,” helium said later. “We are going to beryllium helping him to marque everybody’s imagination travel true: having a beardown and precise harmless New York.”

Kevin Hassett, manager of the National Economic Council, said connected the CNN quality programme State of the Union that Trump wants to enactment with everybody who cares astir the aboriginal of the American people.

“We’re astatine times disagreeing astir policies,” Hassett said, “but I deliberation that the nonsubjective of making beingness amended for everybody is thing that a batch of radical stock connected the Democratic and Republican side.”