President Donald Trump announced late on Nov. 19 that he would meet with Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and mayor-elect of Trump’s native New York City.

"Communist Mayor of New York City, Zohran 'Kwame' Mamdani, has asked for a meeting. We have agreed that this meeting will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st," the president said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. "Further details to follow!"

Trump’s announcement of the summit comes weeks after Mamdani’s victory on Nov. 4 over Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor who lost in the primary and ran in the general election as an independent. The president has repeatedly bashed the 34-year-old Mamdani, a former state assemblyman, Muslim and, like Trump, also from Queens.

Mamdani Spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed the two would meet: "As is customary for an incoming mayoral administration, the Mayor-elect plans to meet with the President in Washington to discuss public safety, economic security and the affordability agenda that over one million New Yorkers voted for just two weeks ago."

The president first signaled on Nov. 16 that he would meet the soon-to-be mayor: "The mayor of New York, I will say, would like to meet with us, and we’ll work something out. But he would like to come to Washington," Trump told reporters on Nov. 16. "We want to see everything work out well for New York."

A Mamdani spokesperson previously said that the mayor-elect hoped to speak with the president about issues of affordability in the city. Mamdani has promised to make New York more affordable.

"We are seeing his actions and that of his administration in Washington leading to the exact opposite effect for New Yorkers," Mamdani said in a statement. "I will go to make the case to the President and to anyone, frankly, that these are the kinds of things we need to change if we want to make it easier for New Yorkers and for Americans to afford the day to day necessities of their life."

Trump’s initial comments after Mamdani’s election showed his distaste for the new leader of New York City.

"On Nov. 5, 2024, the American people reclaimed our government," Trump said at a business forum in Miami, Florida, the day after the election. "We restored our sovereignty − we lost a little bit of sovereignty last night in New York, but we’ll take care of it, don’t worry about it."

Contributing by Kinsey Crowley.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump invites Mamdani to White House while slamming him as a ‘communist’

Reporting by Michael Loria, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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