New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani declared this Wednesday that he is open to having a conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, despite receiving strong criticism from the president, and announced that his transition team will be composed entirely of women. In his first press conference following his victory over independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani said that although the White House has not contacted him since his victory, he is “interested in having a conversation” with Trump “about the ways we can work together to serve the people of New York,” according to CNN. When asked what he believed the lesson from yesterday's election results was for Trump, Mamdani said that “it's not enough to just diagnose the crisis in the lives of working-class Americans.” Mamdani indicated that in his speech last night, “I spoke about how my administration will stand firm alongside New York's Jewish community in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism across the city.” Separately, the socialist Democratic leader announced his transition team, which will be made up entirely of women and led by Elana Leopold, whom he highlighted as a “key part” of his campaign. “Someone who is literally making it harder to pay for those same groceries whose prices he himself criticized not long ago,” Mamdani said. “What scares Republicans across the country is the fact that we are actually going to deliver on this agenda. And that contrast is something they can't bear to witness,” the mayor-elect added. At another point during the press conference, the newly elected mayor of New York responded to criticism regarding the rhetoric of his campaign about the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, saying: “I take the issue of antisemitism very seriously.” “We will be talking with the organizers on the front lines of the fight to improve our city government, veterans with proven track records, public policy experts from across the country and the world, and working people who know better than anyone what their neighborhoods need. There is a task that must be addressed to tackle that crisis.” “This is a president who campaigned on promising cheaper food and now… has gone as far as to cut SNAP benefits for nearly 2 million New Yorkers,” he expressed. The team includes former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, former First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, United Way of New York City Director Grace Bonilla, and Melanie Hartzog, who was Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “We will be launching a broad network,” Mamdani said.
