Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday that she offered guidance to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani ahead of his Friday meeting with President Trump, describing the advice as an effort to help him establish trust with the president and avoid potential federal intervention in the city, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
Hochul said she told Mamdani he needed to ensure President Trump had “confidence” in his leadership to prevent any move to deploy the National Guard in New York City.
Hochul said Mamdani “has already hit the ground running,” adding that she had “the confidence in him that I wanted the president to have as well: that we don’t need any interventions.”
The remarks came during an unrelated press conference in the Bronx.
The meeting between Mamdani and President Trump took place at the White House on Friday. According to accounts from those present, the discussion was notably cordial, despite Mamdani previously referring to Trump as a “fascist.”
In the Oval Office, President Trump expressed that he was impressed with Mamdani’s approach and his stated plans for New York City.
During the meeting, President Trump backed away from his earlier threat to send the National Guard into the city.
Mamdani told the president that he was committed to reducing crime and emphasized that he planned to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Following the conversation, President Trump said, “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help because I want New York City to be great.”
Hochul said she encouraged Mamdani to center the meeting on possible areas of collaboration with the administration.
She referenced her own discussions with President Trump, noting that those conversations led to the federal government taking over the long-delayed Penn Station renovation project.
While Hochul acknowledged progress in the city’s relationship with the administration following the meeting, she did not rule out the possibility that President Trump could revisit or act on his earlier threat to cut federal funding to New York City.
“But I believe we are in a better place this Monday [than] we were Friday going into that meeting,” Hochul said.
She added that “the president had a chance to see someone as I have — who has the capacity and the vision that the city needs at this time.”
Hochul said Mamdani called her the day after the meeting to “extend his appreciation” for the advice. “I told him I thought he did everything he needed to do to make sure the president has confidence in his leadership,” she said.