Trump offers ‘help’ to Mamdani, but only if he’s ‘respectful’ of Washington

Donald Trump is suddenly talking about cooperation, with a caveat. The U.S. president said Wednesday that he’s open to “helping” New York City’s newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani, but warned the 34-year-old democratic socialist to “be respectful” toward Washington if he wants to get anything done.

“He has to be a little bit respectful of Washington, because if he’s not, he doesn’t have a chance of succeeding,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier. “And I want to make him succeed. I want to make the city succeed,” he added, before clarifying that it was New York City, not Mamdani himself, he hoped would prosper.

The remarks came less than 24 hours after Mamdani’s historic win — becoming New York’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor, and just weeks after Trump branded him a “communist lunatic” and threatened to choke off federal funds if he won.

Speaking at a business forum in Miami earlier in the day, Trump’s tone was both mocking and measured.

“The communists, Marxists, and globalists had their chance, and they delivered nothing but disaster,” he said. “Now let’s see how a communist does in New York. We’re going to see how that works out. We’ll help him, we’ll help him. We want New York to be successful. We’ll help him a little bit, maybe.”

Mamdani, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, not a communist, ran on a platform of free buses, universal childcare, and city-run grocery stores. His landslide victory has been widely read as a rebuke to both Trump’s politics and the Democratic establishment represented by former governor Andrew Cuomo, whom he defeated in Tuesday’s election.

In his victory speech, Mamdani pointedly told Trump to “turn the volume up,” a jab at the president’s obsession with television, and vowed to make New York “a city we can afford.”

On Wednesday, while unveiling his transition team, the mayor-elect signaled he’s ready to govern, and to spar.

“I will not mince my words when it comes to President Trump,” he said. “I will continue to describe his actions as they are, and I will also always do so while leaving a door open to have that conversation.”