Here's where things actually stand between Trump and Mamdani

NEW YORK - President Donald Trump and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani met last week in the Oval Office, the first face-to-face between the two since Mamdani’s election victory earlier this month. 

The men seemed to have a relatively cordial meeting at the White House – both of them described the conversation as productive and focused on shared priorities such as affordability for New Yorkers. 

It seems the two still have some differences to iron out, however. 

The backstory:

For months prior to the meeting, the two politicians were at each other's throats. 

Trump called Mamdani names such as "communist lunatic" and suggested that the mayor-elect may be in the country illegally despite the fact that he's a naturalized citizen. Mamdani, on the other hand, made standing up to the president a cornerstone of his campaign. He notably dared Trump to "turn the volume up" during his victory speech. 

"If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him," Mamdani said on Nov. 4. 

Dig deeper:

During an interview on NBC News' Meet the Press over the weekend, Mamdani said he still holds the same beliefs about Trump, saying in particular that he stands by his past characterizations of the president as a "fascist and a "despot." 

"Everything that I’ve said in the past, I continue to believe," Mamdani said. "I think it is important in our politics that we don’t shy away from where we have disagreements."

A reporter even asked Mamdani if he still believed Trump to be a fascist in the Oval Office while standing next to the president last week, to which Trump jumped to his defense. 

"That’s OK. You can just say yes. OK?" Trump said. "It’s easier. It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind."

Still, it would seem that Trump's overall views on Mamdani haven't changed either. 

In an exclusive, the New York Post reported that "a New York business titan close to Trump…believes the president should play the long game" when it comes to Mamdani, especially when it comes to immigration. This is why, when a Mamdani official reportedly approached the businessman about the two men meeting, the president's team agreed.

That request also came after the mayor-elect was informed of the billions of dollars in aid New York City receives from the federal government every year, The Post noted. 

"He faces a $17 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year to pay for all the free stuff he’s proposing," the businessman who helped organize the meeting told The New York Post. "Even if (Gov. Kathy) Hochul agrees to raise taxes, he still faces a multibillion-dollar shortfall. He needs Trump and Trump knows it."

"Trump is playing nice for now," the source added. "But if Mamdani doesn’t allow deportations, or defunds the police or goes full on communist, Trump is ready to lower the hammer."

Will the National Guard be sent to New York City? 

Big picture view:

Following the president's federal takeover of Washington D.C. in August, he started naming cities he'd like to see the National Guard enter next. New York City was on that list. 

"After we do this, we’ll go to another location, and we’ll make it safe," Trump said at an event in the Oval Office earlier this year. "I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York."

During that same interview with NBC News' Kristen Walker on Saturday, Mamdani said that he made a "strong case to the president that the National Guard was not needed and that crime was under control," during their meeting in the Oval Office, according to The New York Times. 

"I made it very clear what we wanted to do was to deliver public safety and affordability, and the N.Y.P.D. would be the ones to do so," he said. 

The same day, Trump told reporters outside The White House that "other places need it more," referring to the deployment of federal troops. 

"We had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that," the president said. 

"If they need it," he said, pivoting slightly. "I would do it."