New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with President Trump in February to discuss housing development, continuing a series of meetings between the two leaders who have described their working relationship as candid despite deep political disagreements. Mamdani said he and Trump are in regular contact and are honest and direct about their many disagreements.

"There is one place of agreement that we have, which is that we both love New York City," Mamdani said. "In many ways, it's a New York story of people who have vehemently differing views, and have said many things about each other, and can also still work together on the points of agreement."

The February housing discussion followed an earlier session at the White House in November, during which Trump and Mamdani pledged to work together to improve the city. After that November meeting, President Trump said, "Some of his ideas are really the same ideas that I have." He added, "We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. I want him to do a great job, and we'll help him do a great job."

The cooperative tone between the two marked a shift from the mayoral campaign, during which Trump strongly opposed Mamdani and threatened to arrest and deport him. Trump has been friendly toward Mamdani despite their political differences since the mayor took office.

One key area of disagreement between the two leaders is the Iran war, which Mamdani has said he is deeply opposed to on political, economic, and moral grounds. "The president and I are very honest about those disagreements," he said. "But I will tell you that in those conversations, it is one that is driven by actually being candid. The better the city does, the better we feel."