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Mamdani says even if he can get along with Trump, he still demands that 'ICE should be abolished'
By Alexander Hall
Published July 21, 2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke to Rolling Stone for an interview published Tuesday about how he and President Donald Trump can agree on a shared love of New York, but they are sharply divided about ICE.
After widespread media concern about the rise of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, he shocked the nation by having a surprisingly chummy meeting with Trump after months of wary rhetoric from both politicians.
In one viral moment, Trump gracefully shrugged off a reporter asking Mamdani about his past comments of Trump being a fascist, saying he doesn’t care.
A Rolling Stone interviewer marveled at this as he spoke to Mamdani, saying, "I think that was kind of one of the most striking parts of the very beginning of your tenure as mayor was that meeting with Trump at the White House that went, I think to pretty much any observer, really well for both of you. He probably felt the same way.
MAMDANI DESCRIBES TRUMP RELATIONSHIP AS 'HONEST' AND 'DIRECT' AMID RECENT BLOWOUT
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke about how he and President Donald Trump can ultimately agree on loving New York City. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images and Heather Khalifa/AP Photo)
"What's your current relationship now?"
"The relationship is as it was. It's built around New York City," Mamdani said. "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. And whenever we speak, whenever we meet, it always comes back to that."
The interviewer recalled recent controversies when ICE performed widespread raids in America’s major cities, asking the mayor whether he tries to stay on Trump’s good side to prevent a similarly scaled mass deportation raid in New York City.
TOM HOMAN WARNS ICE SURGE COMING TO NEW YORK CITY AS MAMDANI BOASTS ABOUT SANCTUARY STATUS
President Donald Trump met with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and had a surprisingly chummy meeting when they met at the White House. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
"I think I need to continue to be honest with the president, and that honesty is in places of disagreement," Mamdani replied. "I've spoken to him directly about how I think of ICE as a cruel agency that does nothing to serve the interests of public safety. And I've spoken about how I think that ICE should be abolished. We should have an immigration system that has humanity at the heart of it.
"And, also, the president, he is a New Yorker. In that first meeting, as much as we were having a conversation as the mayor and the president, we were also having a conversation as two New Yorkers, even at one point talking about community boards and zoning laws."
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rise has demonstrated a shift within the Democratic Party. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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