Days after their friendly meeting, Mamdani says he still thinks Trump is a fascist

Just days after a friendly interaction in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Sunday that he still believes Trump is a fascist and a threat to democracy.

Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he thought Trump was a fascist, Mamdani responded: “And that’s something I’ve said in the past. I say it today.”

But he said he appreciated the conversation with Trump because “we are not ashamed of the places of disagreement, of the politics that have brought us to this moment.”

Mamdani went on to say that he still believes Trump is a threat to democracy and a despot.

“I still believe everything I’ve said in the past. And that’s what I think is important in our politics, is that we don’t avoid where we have disagreements, but we understand what brings us to that table, because I’m not coming to the Oval Office to make a point or a position. I’m coming there to deliver for New Yorkers,” he said.

Mamdani added that he wanted the meeting to be friendly to show the country that despite their disagreements, they can still have a productive relationship.

“I thought over and over what it would mean to New Yorkers if we could establish a productive relationship that focused on the issues those New Yorkers stay thinking about late into the night,” he said. “Because so often in our politics we try to tell people what they should care about.”

Trump and Mamdani appeared cordial and shook hands at a news conference after their roughly 25-minute closed-door conversation Friday. Both said they agreed on many things.

Their friendly news conference differed from months of trading insults and harsh rhetoric in which Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from New York if Mamdani was elected and send federal agents there to fight crime and Mamdani criticized expanded ICE raids and the administration’s increased deportations.

When a reporter asked Mamdani on Friday if he still considered Trump a fascist, the president interjected with a joke before answering another question.

“Okay, you can just say ‘Yes,'” Trump said while patting Mamdani on the back with a laugh. “It’s easier. It’s easier than explaining it.”

On Sunday, Mamdani said the meeting was “productive” in which he and Trump focused on affordability and public safety. Mamdani did not outright say that Trump pledged not to send troops to New York City, but on Saturday Trump said “other places need it more” when asked if he would do so.

Mamdani said he made it clear to the president that “what we wanted to do was provide public safety and affordability, and the NYPD would be the ones to do that.”