NYC mayor Mamdani meets Donald Trump in surprise White House visit

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani held an unannounced meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House marking a striking encounter between two political opposites who have clashed sharply in recent monthsThe meeting was not listed on the public schedule No television cameras were invited into the Oval Office Hours later Mamdani described the interaction as ldquoa productive meetingrdquo and said he was ldquolooking forward to building more housing in New York CityrdquoA photograph released by the mayor showed Trump seated behind the Resolute Desk holding two mock New York Daily News front pages One was an authentic 1975 edition carrying the headline ldquoFord to City Drop Deadrdquo The other was a fabricated page reading ldquoTrump to City Letrsquos Buildrdquo crediting the president with backing a ldquoNew Era of HousingrdquoIn smaller print the mock page declared ldquoTrump Delivers 12000 Homes Most Since 1973rdquoCity Hall spokeswoman Anna Bahr said the mayor had presented ldquoa couple of pitches that would produce and construct more housing in a handful of projects than has happened in 50 yearsrdquoNo further details were immediately provided on the scope location or funding of the proposed housing projectsThe visit also took an unexpected turn on immigrationAfter leaving the White House Mamdani wrote on X ldquoIn our meeting earlier I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva who was detained by ICE this morning He has just informed me that she will be released imminentlyrdquoAghayeva was later releasedShe had been detained early Thursday morning after federal agents entered a residential building on Columbia Universityrsquos Manhattan campusColumbia said immigration officials ldquomade misrepresentations to gain entry to the buildingrdquo in order to arrest her Acting President Claire Shipman said ldquoOur understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a lsquomissing personrsquo We are working to gather more detailsrdquoShe added ldquoIf law enforcement agents seek entry to nonpublic areas of the University ask the agents to wait to enter any nonpublic areas until contacting Public Safety Public Safety will contact the Office of the General Counsel to coordinate the Universityrsquos response Do not allow them to enter or accept service of a warrant or subpoenardquoIn a statement to the Columbia Daily Spectator the Department of Homeland Security said Aghayevarsquos visa was terminated in 2016 for failing to attend class ldquoThe building manager and her roommate let officers into the apartment She has no pending appeals or applications with DHSrdquo the statement saidThe White House did not immediately comment on the meetingThe encounter underscores an evolving dynamic between Mamdani a democratic socialist and Trump a Republican president who has frequently criticised Democraticled cities over immigration and federal policy Despite sharp rhetoric during the election campaign the two have now met more than once in the Oval OfficeNew York City depends heavily on federal funding streams and has been at the centre of national debates over immigration enforcement Columbia University one of the most prominent private institutions in the United States has in recent years been a focal point in disputes involving campus access and federal authorityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever