NEW YORK CITY Mayor Zohran Mamdani employed an unconventional strategy during his White House meeting Thursday, bringing along a fabricated newspaper front page to convince President Donald Trump to support major housing development funding for the city.
The creative approach was specifically tailored to Trump’s well-documented attention to media coverage and his habit of closely following New York City news outlets, according to political observers. Despite their opposing political parties, the Republican president and Democratic mayor have developed a working relationship since initially meeting last autumn.
Communications director Anna Bahr explained that Mamdani’s team designed the fake newspaper headlines to show Trump the potential positive media response that federal housing investments could generate. The fabricated New York Daily News cover displayed “Trump to City: Let’s Build” — a clever reference to the notorious 1975 headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” which criticized President Gerald Ford’s refusal to provide financial aid to the city.
The mayor shared images from their White House encounter on his social media accounts, showcasing the mock newspaper pages.
While Mamdani’s office wouldn’t provide specifics about the housing proposal, Bahr reported that Trump responded with “very enthusiastic” support. During their previous November meeting, Trump had encouraged the mayor to return with ambitious development ideas for New York City, according to Bahr.
Despite Trump’s previous campaign attacks calling Mamdani a “communist” during the mayoral race, the president appeared impressed with the mayor following their private November White House discussion.
Thursday’s unscheduled meeting, which extended for approximately one hour, also addressed the detention of Ellie Aghayeva, a Columbia University student from Azerbaijan who was apprehended by federal immigration officers earlier that day.
Immigration agents had gained access to the campus dormitory by falsely claiming they were investigating a “missing person” case, according to both Aghayeva’s legal team and Columbia’s president. During his Trump meeting, Mamdani advocated for the student’s release.
Shortly after their White House discussion concluded, Trump contacted the mayor by phone to confirm that Aghayeva would be freed. Mamdani also provided White House chief of staff Susie Wiles with names of four additional students facing federal action, requesting administrative assistance for their cases.
The four students — Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, Mohsen Mahdawi and Leqaa Kordia — were all arrested for participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Currently, only Kordia remains detained, though all four cases continue moving through the court system.
