New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani made a surprise trip to the White House yesterday with the goal of lobbying President Trump into allocating $21 billion federal funds for a massive affordable housing project.
The proposed project would build 12,000 affordable housing units at Sunnyside Yard, a rail yard in Queens. The mayor’s office claimed the project “would create 30,000 good-paying union jobs and deliver new parks, schools and health care clinics,” adding the proposal marks “the largest housing and infrastructure investment in New York City in more than 50 years.”
“To meet this moment, we need a true federal partner prepared to invest boldly and act urgently,” said Mamdani in a statement. “I appreciated the opportunity to speak directly with President Trump about building more housing in any single project than our city has seen since 1973.”
During the meeting, Mamdani sought to flatter the president by recalling his real estate career. The mayor presented a copy of the infamous 1975 Daily News cover reading “Ford to City: Drop Dead” and a mock-up of the tabloid’s front page with the headline “Trump to City: Let’s Build.”
The White House did not comment on the meeting. The relationship between Trump and Mamdani has evolved curiously, with the Democratic Socialist repeatedly blasting the president during his 2025 mayoral campaign but dialing down his angry rhetoric after being elected. The two men had a cordial meeting at the White last November after Mamdani’s election.
Earlier this week, Trump cited Mamdani during his State of the Union address by calling him a “communist,” but quickly added, “I think he’s a nice guy, actually. I speak to him a lot. Bad policy, but nice guy.”
Photo courtesy of Mayor Mamdani’s social media pages
