Breaking
President Donald Trump sat down with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion on Monday, the latest meeting in one of the most unusual political relationships in the country. The president arrived at the official mayoral residence just before 4 p.m., met privately with Mamdani for about an hour, and then held a joint press conference on the lawn. The meeting came during United Nations General Assembly week, a day before Trump addressed world leaders at the U.N.
The centerpiece of the talks was Sunnyside Yard, a 180-acre rail yard in Queens that the Mamdani administration wants to deck over and turn into a new neighborhood. The plan would require at least $21 billion in federal grants. “What we’re speaking about is 12,000 homes, 30,000 jobs. The prospect of an entire new neighborhood in a city where housing is the number one cost,” Mamdani said. Trump signaled openness but made no funding promise. “You’re going to need a lot of federal approvals and probably some federal money to do it. But, it’s always been a great location. I owned a building in Sunnyside. It was a great building. I know it very well,” the president said.
Details & Background
Monday’s sit-down was the third face-to-face meeting between the two men. Their first meeting came in November 2025 after Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, won the mayor’s race. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles attended Monday’s meeting, along with Mamdani’s chief of staff, Elle Bisgaard-Church, according to amNewYork. Mamdani said both sides agreed to take the Sunnyside Yard talks to a more detailed level. “What we made an agreement today on was that the conversation would now be elevated to a place where it’s going to also be technical between our housing teams, our operations teams, and the White House,” he said.
The project has been discussed for decades without getting built. “When [Mamdani] mentioned Sunnyside Yards, they’ve been talking about developing that for 50 years. So, maybe they have a shot at doing it,” Trump said, according to the Queens Daily Eagle. The president also told reporters that any development should include a substantial affordable-housing component. The two men discussed immigration as well. The Trump administration recently canceled Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, and Mamdani said he pressed the president on the issue, calling Haitian New Yorkers important to the city’s fabric and economy. Trump made no commitment on TPS.
Reactions
Trump opened the press conference with warm words for his host and for the city where he built his career, calling the visit “like coming home.” Recalling past mayors, he said there had been “great ones and some not so great ones,” then turned to Mamdani. “Hopefully you’re going to be a great one,” Trump said, patting the mayor on the back. “And you’re off to a start.” Asked about his decision to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, Trump said the “press has an obligation to be fair.” Mamdani, by contrast, said all credentialed press would be welcome at Gracie Mansion.
After Trump left, Mamdani returned to the lawn and acknowledged that the two have sharp disagreements. “I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly, anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city,” he said, later calling it a “productive meeting with the President today at Gracie Mansion.” Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had no plans to meet with Trump this week. “I talk to him about a lot of things. I don’t worry about a lack of communication for us. It doesn’t come down to one meeting on a particular day,” she said.
Why This Matters to You
Sunnyside Yard would be one of the largest housing projects in the country, and it cannot move forward without Washington. That puts real leverage in the president’s hands. Any federal money for the project would come from taxpayers nationwide, not just New Yorkers, so the terms Trump sets, from affordable-housing requirements to how much Washington contributes, will matter well beyond the five boroughs. His call for a substantial affordable-housing share shows the administration wants a say in how the money would be used.
The meeting also shows how the administration is dealing with big-city Democrats. Mamdani is pressing Trump on Haitian TPS and has criticized ICE enforcement in New York, while the president has held firm on immigration. Trump has kept the door open on housing without giving ground on the border. Whether Sunnyside Yard becomes a rare bipartisan win or another stalled New York megaproject, the outcome will test whether the president can turn his builder’s instincts into results for working families while keeping his immigration agenda intact.
