Update (1700ET): Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he hoped to press President Trump to help ease the affordability crisis.

He said that if the president were willing to find common ground on the issue, he would be willing to work with him.

“The president ran a campaign where he spoke about a promise to deliver cheaper groceries, a promise to reduce the cost of living,” Mr. Mamdani said at news conference at a food pantry in the Bronx, where he served meals to visitors.

But he has also expressed doubt that the president has any such intentions.

“We are seeing his actions and that of his administration in Washington leading to the exact opposite effect for New Yorkers.”

Oh to be a fly on that wall!?

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As Tom Ozimek detailed earlier for The Epoch Times, President Donald Trump said Nov. 16 that he plans to meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and “work something out,” signaling that he may be open to a working relationship with the self-described democratic socialist, whom the president has repeatedly said is a threat to the city.

“The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us and we’ll work something out,” Trump told reporters on Nov. 17 as he prepared to return to Washington after a weekend in Florida.

“We want to see everything work out well for New York.”

Mamdani—who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo by nearly nine points to become the city’s first democratic socialist mayor—said during a Nov. 12 interview with NBC New York that he intends to reach out to the White House in the coming weeks.

The 34-year-old Ugandan-born, naturalized U.S. citizen called the relationship with Washington “critical to the success of the city” and said he is prepared to work with Trump on issues such as lowering the cost of living and delivering cheaper groceries.

Trump’s comments mark a softer stance for a president who has described Mamdani as a “communist” and threatened to cut off federal support to New York if voters elected him. At rallies and public appearances throughout the mayoral race, Trump was highly critical of Mamdani, at one point suggesting he could be arrested if he interfered with federal immigration enforcement.

Mamdani rose to national prominence by casting himself as an opponent of Trump’s agenda.

Mamdani has vowed to make New York the “strongest sanctuary city” in the nation, including by ending all cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and getting ICE out of all city facilities.

His broader plan to “Trump-proof” New York aims to insulate the city from federal pressure, including by boosting immigration-related legal defense funding, shielding personal data from federal access, and expanding protections for transgender medical procedures.

The meeting—if it occurs—would come as Mamdani prepares to undergo federal vetting for a security clearance that incoming New York mayors are required to obtain before taking office.

Despite the heated campaign-era rhetoric, Trump’s tone toward New York has softened in recent days. Speaking at a Miami business forum shortly after Democrats notched several statewide wins on Nov. 4, Trump said he wanted the country’s largest city “to be successful” despite his misgivings about Mamdani’s policies.

“We’re going to see how that works out,” the president said.

“We‘ll help them. We want New York to be successful. We’ll help them a little bit.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that no date has been set for a Trump–Mamdani meeting.

The early signals from both men suggest a cautious opening for cooperation once Mamdani takes office in January.