New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani walked out of the White House on Thursday with a potential $21 billion federal commitment for affordable housing and the release of a detained Columbia University student—not bad for a democratic socialist meeting with Donald Trump.
It was Mamdani’s second sit-down with Trump since his November election, and the optics were almost absurdist: the president holding up mock newspaper front pages reading “Trump to City: Let’s Build,” a callback to the infamous 1975 “Ford to City: Drop Dead” headline.
The housing pitch centers on Sunnyside Yard, where Mamdani’s office says 12,000 affordable homes could be built along with parks, schools, and healthcare clinics. If it happens, it would be the largest housing and infrastructure investment in New York City in more than 50 years.
“Last time the president and the mayor met, the president asked him to come back with big ideas to build big things together in New York City,” said Mamdani’s press secretary Joe Calvello. “So the mayor took him up on this offer.”
Yes, Mamdani’s team literally mocked up fake newspaper front pages as props for the president. “The president was very enthusiastic about this idea,” Calvello said.
I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon.
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) February 26, 2026
I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City. pic.twitter.com/XnPbt0KXYU
But Mamdani didn’t just come for construction money. He raised the arrest of Elmina Aghayeva, a Columbia student whom DHS detained at her campus residence after agents allegedly lied to gain entry to the building. Trump called Mamdani after their meeting to say she’d be released “imminently”—and she was.
Mamdani also handed Trump a list of four additional detained students and asked him to consider dismissing their cases.
The whole dynamic remains deeply weird. Trump called Mamdani a “communist” during his State of the Union address just days earlier, but also said “I think he’s a nice guy, actually. I speak to him a lot. Bad policy, but nice guy.”
Republicans have tried to paint Mamdani as a radical who will destroy the city. Meanwhile, Trump keeps inviting him to the Oval Office and apparently taking his calls.
Asked Wednesday how often he speaks with Trump, Mamdani said he’d keep those conversations “private.”
A Mamdani spokeswoman said Trump will fund the Sunnyside Yard project, though details are still being worked out. The White House didn’t respond to requests for comment.