New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani traveled to Washington, D.C. Thursday to meet with President Trump. 

It’s at least the second time the two have met at the White House. Their first meeting, prior to Mamdani’s swearing in, was marked by a friendly and cooperative tone that surprised many observers. The two have since kept in touch. 

It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted Thursday’s meeting, but it comes on the heels of the president speaking about Mamdani during the State of the Union, calling him a “nice guy.” 

The meeting also came the same day ICE agents detained a Columbia University student. The agents allegedly gaining access to her apartment under “misrepresentations,” according to Columbia University’s acting president Claire Shipman. 

Mamdani wrote on social media after the meeting that he had spoken to the president about the matter, and the president assured him she would be “released imminently.” That student, Elmina “Ellie” Aghayeva, was released a short time later. 

Mamdani said his meeting with the president was “productive.” He posted a photo on social media of himself and the president, with the president holding up a mockup of a newspaper that reads “Trump To City: Let’s Build,” a riff on the classic “Ford To City: Drop Dead,” which the president can be seen holding in his other hand. 

“I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City,” Mamdani wrote. 

I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon.

I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City. pic.twitter.com/XnPbt0KXYU

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) February 26, 2026

NYC’s emergency snow shoveling program gets national attention

Mr. Trump remarked about New York City’s emergency snow shovelers at the State of the Union. 

“If you apply for that job you need to show two original forms of ID and a Social Security card,” the president said. “Yet they don’t want identification for the greatest privilege in America,” referring to voting. Republicans have been pushing for a new federal law to require photo ID at polling places.

“I can tell you I didn’t expect this much attention nationwide on our emergency snow shoveler program,” Mamdani subsequently joked. 

Earlier this week, the mayor said he wouldn’t discuss how frequently he’s in touch with the president, saying only when they have conversations, “they always focus on how to better our city.” 

“I’ll keep the conversations that I have with the president private,” Mamdani said. 

In:

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s mayoral candidates are set to meet for their final debate Wednesday night, with Democrat Zohran Mamdani looking to stay in control of a race increasingly seen as his to win while former Gov. Andrew Cuomo amps up the pressure on Republican Curtis Sliwa to drop out.

With just days left until early voting begins, Cuomo has made a series of urgent pleas to the city’s conservative voters to ditch Sliwa and instead to support him, casting the Republican candidate as a “spoiler” whose presence in the race will deliver Mamdani a win.

The debate may be the former governor’s last and best chance at making his case to run the country’s biggest city ahead of next month’s election.

But Sliwa, the swaggering creator of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group, has forcefully maintained he will not exit the race and has in turn ramped up his criticism of the former governor.

Mamdani, meanwhile, has spent his recent days campaigning on local issues and energizing his own supporters. Though he is expected to face an aggressive version of Cuomo on stage, as he did during last week’s first debate, he will need to balance his counterattacks with the hopeful vision of the city that has driven his campaign’s momentum.

Here’s what to watch for during the 90-minute debate Wednesday night, which will air live on Spectrum News NY1 and be streamed on the station’s website beginning at 7 p.m.:

Mamdani will attempt to stay above the fray and keep his focus on voters.

“While my opponents are focused on speaking about each other and which one of them should drop out, my focus will be on New Yorkers themselves and the concerns I’ve heard from them,” he told reporters Tuesday, according to the Daily News.

But as the Democratic nominee, presumed frontrunner and rising national star, the state assemblyman is still expected to take heat on Wednesday night.

Opponents of the 34-year-old democratic socialist have focused on his relatively thin political resume, made accusations that the city would fall into chaos under his leadership, and drawn attention to President Donald Trump’s threats to take over the city — and even arrest Mamdani — if he wins.

Last week, he was able to deflect much of Cuomo’s verbal onslaught while launching his own broadsides at the former governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sexual harassment allegations that Cuomo denies but led to his resignation in 2021.

Mamdani also got a little help from Sliwa. The Republican’s sharpest attacks were reserved for Cuomo, forcing the 67-year-old into a defensive posture at a time when he needed to land significant blows against Mamdani to stifle the Democrat’s momentum.

After losing his first comeback bid in the Democratic primary to Mamdani this summer, Cuomo rebooted his campaign with an odd request: A call for the other candidates to drop out.

He’s made a similar play in the final stretch of the general election race, saying in a radio interview this week that, “A vote for Curtis is a vote for Mamdani,” while acknowledging that “it’s harder mathematically” for him to win with Sliwa in the race.

“Republicans believe Mamdani is an existential threat,” Cuomo said. “Then you do what you need to do to stop the existential threat.”

Cuomo, who is now running as an independent, may use the debate to press the issue and make a last chance play for conservatives and moderates, framing himself as a more viable candidate than Sliwa.

Sliwa made a splash in last week’s debate as viewers got a glimpse of the colorful character who has long been a fixture of the city’s tabloids.

The 71-year-old launched pointed attacks against Cuomo and Mamdani, while sprinkling in anecdotes like the time he was shot in the back of a cab in what he says what an attempted mob hit.

On Wednesday, Sliwa will look to parlay his newfound audience into real support as he tries to make his case that he’s a viable candidate in the heavily Democratic city.

In order to win, Sliwa will have to hold onto the nearly 30% of voters he won in the last mayoral election, while winning over centrists who don’t want to support Mamdani or Cuomo.

Even as pressure has mounted on Sliwa to exit, he appears more committed than ever to remain in the race.

“The billionaires are not going to determine who the next mayor is. You, the people will,” he said in a campaign video this week that called for his supporters to cast their ballots on the first day of early voting this weekend.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic frontrunner in the race for New York City mayor, said Monday he would not participate in an upcoming town hall on WABC-TV, citing ABC’s decision to pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” 

Mamdani’s announcement came hours before the Walt Disney Company said Kimmel will return to air as of Tuesday. 

CBS News New York has reached out to the Mamdani campaign to see if Kimmel’s return will prompt the Queens assemblyman to revisit participating in the town hall. 

Kimmel was taken off the air last week after he suggested in a monologue that President Trump’s allies were trying to use Charlie Kirk’s assassination for political gain. ABC announced it would “indefinitely” pre-empt the show after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said the network should “take action” over the comments. Station owners Nexstar — which needs the FCC to approve a deal to purchase rival Tegna — and Sinclair both said they’d pull the show indefinitely before ABC followed suit.

“I am withdrawing form an ABC town hall that was scheduled to take place this Thursday,” Mamdani said when he made his announcement earlier Monday. “It’s not the government’s job to bully talk show hosts off of the air. It is not the government’s decision to tell us what we can and cannot talk about.”

A spokesperson for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo blasted Mamdani’s decision to not participate in the town hall. 

“ABC suspending Kimmel was a big mistake, but refusing to talk to local reporters because of the actions of their parent company shouldn’t pass anyone’s smell test and the press shouldn’t continue to give him a pass,” the spokesperson said. “Since the primary, Mamdani has been running from reporters and refusing to answer direct questions on his past campaign pledge to decriminalize prostitution, his refusal to apologize for calling the NYPD racist and his vow to seize the means of production — i.e. abolish private property — among other deeply held beliefs that he is trying to keep a lid on before election day. He can’t word salad his way out of this one.” 

amNewYork was first to report Mamdani’s plan to pull out of Thursday’s town hall.

Rallies were held in support of free speech Monday. In California, members of local Hollywood unions and local lawmakers gathered to highlight the impact of the show’s suspension on crew members. Over the weekend, people gathered in Times Square for a free speech rally to denounce ABC’s suspension of Kimmel. 

President Trump last week also floated revoking TV broadcast licenses for networks that cover him negatively. 

“They give me only bad publicity or press,” Mr. Trump said while returning from his recent state visit to the United Kingdom. “I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.” 

Kathryn Watson

contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani rallied supporters at a town hall in Brooklyn on Saturday, slamming President Donald Trump and boosting their shared progressive message as Mamdani works to energize his base in the final weeks of the New York City mayor’s race.

The crowd was friendly, and the reception was almost entirely warm.

The idea of health care as a human right? Cheers. The mere mention of Trump? Heavy boos. The notion of an oligarchy? Even more boos. At one point, the crowd chanted the campaign slogans that helped Mamdani win the Democratic nomination in the race.

“We will freeze the?” Mamdani asked. The booming response: “Rent!”

“Make buses fast and?,” he continued.

“Free!,” the audience yelled.

The town hall — part of Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which has drawn massive crowds in red and blue states alike — packed an auditorium in Brooklyn as Mamdani’s campaign barrels toward the November election.

He is facing off against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who are both running as independents, along with Republican Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels crime patrol group.

Sanders, an independent who represents Vermont, dubbed Mamdani “the future of the Democratic Party,” while criticizing the state’s top Democratic leaders for not endorsing him.

“I find it hard to understand how the major Democratic leaders in New York state are not supporting the Democratic candidate,” Sanders said.

The event, which felt more rah-rah lovefest than the usual caustic questioning of most political town halls, came near the end of a chaotic week in the race.

Adams has spent the last few days fending off reports that Trump intermediaries have been assessing his willingness to drop out of the contest to take a job with the federal government.

At the same time, Trump has told reporters he doesn’t want Mamdani, a democratic socialist, to be the city’s next mayor but believes he will win unless two of the three other major candidates exit the race. Trump has also said he thinks Cuomo might be able to win in a one-on-one race, adding, “If you have more than one candidate running against (Mamdani), it can’t be won.”

Edward Donlon, a 75-year-old Mamdani supporter who trekked from Staten Island to Brooklyn on a rainy day for the town hall, said it would be “outrageous” for the president to get involved in the race.

“I want to have an honest politician,” said Donlon, a retired attorney. “I’d like to have someone who you can believe what they’re saying.”

Through the town hall, Mamdani and Sanders, an independent who represents Vermont, fielded mostly friendly questions, though there was one raucous moment where a man was removed by security.

Just a few minutes into Mamdani’s opening remarks, a man with a shirt that read Cuba and had a Cuban flag approached the stage and began to yell, saying you are a Communist.

“You know that something has changed when it’s not enough to call us democratic socialists anymore,” Mamdani said as the man was removed by security.

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani called reporting Wednesday that the White House is considering administration jobs for Mayor Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa an “affront to our democracy.”

The New York Times reported Wednesday that advisers to President Donald Trump have discussed giving incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, a position in the administration to clear the field and set up a head-to-head race between Mamdani and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani and is now running as an independent. The talks have also involved Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, the Times reported.

In mid-July after the Democratic primary, Trump told reporters that Cuomo should remain in the race.

“I think he should stay. I think he has a shot,” he said. “He’s going to run a tough campaign.”

In August, asked if he had spoke to Cuomo about his New York city mayoral run, Trump said, “I haven’t, no, I haven’t.”

Mamdani said Wednesday of the Times report, “Today, we have learned what New Yorkers have long suspected — that Andrew Cuomo is Donald Trump’s choice to be the next mayor of this city.”

He continued: “Today’s news that the White House is considering job offers for Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa, it is not news that carries meaning because of any impact it will have on this race. We feel just as confident as we did yesterday that we will win this race in November.”

This is, however, about an affront to our democracy, an affront to what makes so many of us proud to be Americans, that we choose our own leaders, not that they get to pick themselves, not that they get to be picked by the president of the United States, the same president who detained a 6-year-old girl from a New York City public school system and took her hundreds of miles away, the same president that cut SNAP benefits from the hungry across these five boroughs … the same president who will throw millions of New Yorkers off their health insurance, is now seeking to undermine the very fabric of this city.”

An emotional Mamdani then stressed that New York “is not for sale.”

“That is what this news has revealed to us today, and that is what this campaign is fighting — not simply any other candidate that will be on the ballot, but the notion that New York City is for sale. We know that this city will decide its own future, and we know that it is New Yorkers that we will turn to make that decision in November, not the White House in Washington, D.C.”

Adams’ campaign denied that he has spoken with Trump and said he was not offered or asked for a role in Trump’s administration.

“Mayor Adams has made it clear he will not respond to every rumor that comes up,” campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro said in a statement to ABC News. “Mayor Adams has not met with Donald Trump — don’t believe the noise,” campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro said in a statement to ABC News. “He is not dropping out of the race. The Mayor is fully committed to winning this election, with millions of New Yorkers preparing to cast their votes. His record is clear: crime is down, jobs are up, and he has consistently stood up for working families. Mayor Adams is focused on building on that progress and earning four more years to continue delivering for the people of New York.”

Sliwa said in a statement to ABC News that the White House had not contacted him, adding that he is focused on New York.

“I’m the only candidate on a major party line who can defeat Mamdani, and I’m committed to carrying this fight through to Election Day,” he said.

ABC News has reached out to Cuomo’s campaign for its reaction.

The White House has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

Mamdani was asked Wednesday by a reporter if he was angry. He said he was, pointing to “backroom deals” that alienate New Yorkers, and his winning margins over Cuomo could have encouraged Trump to get involved.

“I am angry. I’m angry because so often we think of this solely in terms of the dynamics of politics. But the reason that so many New Yorkers are fed up with politics as they know it is because of news like this, backroom deals, corrupt agreements, all of which serve to increase the sense of disaffection and despair as it pertains to how people feel about politics across this country, and to know that having defeated Andrew Cuomo by 13 points, having won the votes of close to 600,000 New Yorkers, has only been understood by that former government as an invitation to collaborate with Donald Trump,” Mamdani added.

Asked what his message is directly for Eric Adams, Mamdani said he doesn’t think any mayoral candidate should be considering taking deals with the administration.

“I don’t think anyone seeking to represent the people of this city should be taking a job with the administration that is making it harder for the people of the city to afford the place that they call home…my issue is the work that is taking place right now in these kinds of conversations, in these kinds of meetings, to subvert the will of Democrats across the city, all in the interest of Donald Trump.”

Mamdani said he also sees “many ethical issues with this news” and has a hard time believing what he says is “Mayor Adams’ ever-changing story.”