NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has opened up about his direct dealings with President Donald Trump. While their shared love for the city has forged a surprisingly cordial bond, an ideological chasm remains about one major thing.
Zohran Mamdani says ICE is the central divide between him and Donald Trump
Mamdani made it clear that his honesty with Trump is on one core disagreement. He is not softening his stance on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to stay in the administration’s good graces.
“I think I need to continue to be honest with the president, and that honesty is in places of disagreement,” Mamdani told Rolling Stone. “I’ve spoken to him directly about how I think of ICE as a cruel agency that does nothing to serve the interest of public safety. I’ve spoken about how I think it should be abolished.”
The NYC mayor’s blunt criticism came amid Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, recently teasing sending “more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen” to New York City. Tensions escalated earlier this week when an anti-ICE protester allegedly set off fireworks outside 26 Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan. The building houses an immigration court and has become a flashpoint for masked federal agents making arrests.
Despite this friction, Zohran Mamdani and the president have maintained a surprising rapport. The democratic socialist shocked people earlier this year when a White House meeting between the two men went remarkably well.
Trump even shrugged off a reporter’s question about Mamdani’s past “fascist” comments, stating he did not care. That meeting paved the way for the release of a Columbia University student detained by federal agents on February 26.
Mamdani explained that their connection is forged by geography. “I think for all of the many disagreements that the president and I have, we have one thing in common, which is a love of this place,” he said. “Whenever we speak, whenever we meet, it always comes back to that.”
Yet when the topic shifts to ICE, the divide is absolute.
