And joining me now is the mayor elect of New York city, Zoran Mamdani. Mr. Mayor elect, welcome back to Meet the Press and congratulations. Thank you so much.
It's pleasure to be back. Well, it is wonderful to have you here in person, fresh off of your first meeting with President Donald Trump. He praised you. He even said you could do a great job as mayor.
Despite months of a bitter back and forth. Were you surprised by the warm welcome that you got? You know, I was looking forward to having a meeting with the President to speak about the needs of the eight and a half million people who call the same city we love home, and to speak frankly about the affordability crisis that's pushing so many of them out of those five boroughs. And I found in the meeting that I had with the President, a productive one and a meeting that came back again, again to the central themes of the campaign that we ran.
The cost of housing, cost of childcare, cost of groceries, the cost of utilities. And it showed that this is an opportunity to now start to deliver so that people can do more than just aspire to struggle in New York City, but actually to be able to live there. But did you expect it to be so chummy? What was going through your head when you were standing there?
You know, I thought again and again about what it would mean for New Yorkers if we could establish a productive relationship that would focus on the issues that those New Yorkers stay up late at night thinking about. Because so often in our politics, we try and tell people what they should be worried about, what they should be concerned about. When we actually ask New Yorkers and you listen to them, you hear it come back to the issues they animated. Not just a conversation the President and I had with the press after our meeting, but frankly, the meeting itself.
It was a conversation where we spoke about the need to deliver on this agenda. And I appreciated that when the President, when we had that meeting, it wasn't just the Oval Office, he also took me into the Cabinet Room and there we were looking at portraits of presidents of years gone by and we admired a portrait of fdr. And in many ways, when I think about the candidacy that we've put forward, it looks to Fiero laguardia as the greatest mayor in New York City. You can't tell the story of the LaGuardia without telling the story about the ER and the story of a relationship with the federal government that finally delivered at the scale of the crisis it was facing.
Well, prior to your meeting. I don't have to tell you this President Trump repeatedly threatened to cut off federal funding to New York if you won. The President seemed to back away from that yesterday, though, in his public comments in that joint news conference. He all did.
He said, I don't think that's going to happen. I expect to be helping him, not hurting him. Do you believe him when he says that? No, I believe the President in the conversation that we had.
And I will continue to make the case both to the President and to the country at large about the needs of New Yorkers. Because what I found, frankly, is that New Yorkers have grown tired of being asked to believe in a system that has delivered very little for them. They're tired of a politics that expects everything from them all to deliver little. And what they want now is politics that can see the scale of the crisis from it and actually start to work together to deliver on.
You ran a campaign, though, saying that President Trump had not delivered on, on his promise of affordability. Did anything that happened in that meeting make you think, yes, he can deliver on that promise for Americans, for New Yorkers. Well, I spoke to the President about the fact that while our campaign technically began on October 23 last year, for many people, they became aware of it after the President won his election. And when I went out and spoke to New Yorkers, asked them who'd they vote for and why, in two neighborhoods that swung most significantly towards the President, this was Ford Road and the Bronx Hillside Avenue in Queens.
And I shared with the President that when I asked those New Yorkers why did they vote for the President, they told me again, it's cost of living, cost of living, cost of living. And when the President and I were speaking, we were speaking about what is preventing from delivering on that Ford related agenda. Sometimes it's a lack of taking on the broken system that we have. And I spoke about in New York City, for example, zoning regulations.
We spoke about Europe. This is a process by which you either approve or deny zoning changes that are made in New York City. We spoke about the need to change. So many of those situations, such as the developer doesn't tell you the thing expensive than labor or materials is waiting.
And we also spoke about the importance of understanding what it is that hurts New Yorkers in their pockets. It's their rent, it's their childcare, it's their utilities, and it's their childcare. Because the child care, I say twice because it is the second highest cost after housing, $22,500 a year for a single child. Well, let me ask you about the Other threat that we heard from President Trump to send troops to New York City to address issues of crime and immigration.
We've seen him do this in other major cities. Did you get any assurances in your meeting, Mayor Electani, that President Trump will not send troops into New York? I told the president that the cornerstone of an affordability agenda is public safety. And that is critically important to me.
And for all that has been said and all that has been spoken about and the tens of millions of dollars looking to make New Yorkers fearful of that question, the truth of it is, in fact, I'm looking forward to working with the NYPD to deliver on that. And I shared with the president that my decision to retain Police Commissioner Jack is in large part a recognition of the fact that in her time leading nypd, she has driven down crime across the five boroughs while starting to uproot corruption that was endemic in the top echelons of a Department of America. And I'm going to follow up with you on your decision to keep Commissioner Tish. But to this core question that I think so many New Yorkers are curious to know the answer to, what did President Trump say to you?
Did he assure you he will not send troops into New York? He told me he cared deeply about public safety. I said I care deeply about. What I told him is that what separates your city from anywhere else in the country.
We have the nip, and I trust the NYP to deliver public safety. And to me, that is something that I know that they can do, that they have done and will continue to do. Minorities. So he didn't rule it out in your meeting?
I made it very clear what we wanted to do was to deliver public safety and affordability. The NYP would be the ones to do so. In that press conference with President Trump, a reporter asked you whether you believe that President Trump is, in fact, a fascist word that you've used in the past. You were about to answer, then President Trump sort of jumped in and he said, quote, that's okay.
You can change. Say yes. It's easier than explaining it. So, Mr.
Mayreleck, just to be very clear, do you think that President Trump is a fascist? And after President Trump said that, I said, yes, and you do. And that's something I've said in the past, I say today. And I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment.
And we also want to focus on what it could look like to deliver our shared analysis of affordability crisis for New Yorkers. You've also said in the past that President Trump has engaged in a, quote, attack on our democracy. You've called him a despot. Do you still believe President Trump is a threat to democracy?
Everything that I've said in the past, I continue to believe. And that's the thing that I think is important in our politics, is we don't shy away from where we have this script so we understand what it is that brings us to that table. Because I'm not coming into the Oval Office to make a point or make a sand. I'm coming to deliver for New Yorkers.
And a few weeks ago, I was asked by a reporter three words to describe myself. I said, New York City, and that's why I made that conversation. How do we deliver from people in New York City? I think that some of your supporters would be curious to know.
You say you stand by your past statements that, yes, he's a threat to the democracy. How do you swear working with someone who you still think is a threat to democracy? I think working for the people of New York City demands that you work with everyone and anyone and that you always look to find those areas of agreement while not overlooking the places of discipline. And I think this was something that came up in our meeting.
We spoke about immigration. We spoke about the fact that in New York City, we have sanctuary state policies that allow for the city to work with the federal government on around 170 serious crimes. The concern for so many New Yorkers comes about anything beyond that. And I spoke about the importance of us being able to protect New Yorkers and some of the incidents that we see, they do not do that.
You raise the issue of sanctuary cities. So I want to speak to you more broadly about the issue of immigration. This is one that is so critical to New York, the rest of the country as well. One of your top supporters, Senator Bernie Sanders, recently weighed in on President Trump's record managing the border.
He compared it to former President Biden, which is a. Listen to what he said. I'll get your reaction on the other side. Trump did a bad job.
I don't like Trump, you know, but we should have a secure border and ain't that hard to do. Biden didn't do it. Those before him did not do it. We should have a secure border, period.
Do you agree with Senator Bernie Sanders that President Trump has done a better job securing the border than former President Biden? I haven't thought much about comparing Presidents. On the question of securing the border, I think it's important that it's secure. And I also think it's important that we have an immigration system that is humane.
And that's why I spoke about with the president, is that New Yorkers want to see humanity in the policies that are being implemented. Do you give President Trump some credit for the work that he's done to make the border, in Senator Sanders estimation, more secure? What I give President Trump credit for is the meeting up we had yesterday was one that was focused on how we could work together for New Yorkers. And the place that we could do so most effectively, frankly, is ensuring every New Yorker can afford to.
Well, you take me to my next question, which is about really the central issue of your campaign, affordability. You have said that you want to raise $9 billion in new taxes, increasing taxes on the wealthy, on businesses, in order to fund your key policies like universal child care, which you mentioned. You would need Governor Kathy Hogel to be on board with this. You need her signature.
She has never publicly committed to increasing taxes. I know you just spoke with her, Mr. Mayor elect. Did Governor Hogle commit to you that she will support and sign on to your plan to increase taxes?
The governor and I had a productive conversation. What we both committed to is working together for the affordability agenda. And one thing I appreciate of the many about Governor Hogel is the she's been focused on this affordability, specifically on universal child care, for quite some time. And now is the time to bring a partner forward in City Hall.
And I've said plainly and openly that I believe that these are two tax proposals that make sense. Increasing the personal income taxes on New Yorkers making or more, that is 2%. Increasing the top corporate tax rate to that nationality of New Jersey. And what I've also said is more important than how we fund something is that we fund something.
And if there are additional alternate revenue streams to do so, I will accept them and I will celebrate them. Because the most important thing is actually delivered for the New Yorkers who right now can't even conceive of having a family in New York City because of how expensive we made child care across the federal government. Well, and your entire agenda is incredibly ambitious. Universal child care, free buses, among other things, lowering rent.
Can you deliver on this agenda without Governor Hobo agreeing to increase taxes? Well, I'm thankful that I'm not going to have to engage in the hypothetical because I am confident of the two of us working together to deliver on this agenda and Ensure that finally, this goes back to step 400. FDR, we look at what politics has been in the past. It has been.
They're in the moment of such transformation, meeting the scale of the crisis. We can do that again. Just yes or no. You think she'll raise taxes?
I think she'll work with me to deliver on a 4 billion. I think raising taxes make the most sense. If there's any alternative that raises the same amount of money, I'm open. All right, let's talk about another major issue, which you referenced to police.
So many major crime. There are a lot of major issues. I know five years ago, you were calling for defunding the police. Now you are in charge of the largest police department in the country.
You have tapped Commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on in her job. She has accepted. She wants to put thousands more police officers on the streets of New York. Will you do that, Mr.
Mayor Elect? I've said over the course of the campaign that I think the number we had budgeted at 35,000 officers is a sufficient number. What we have to do, however, is allow those officers to focus on policing. What I mean by that is that in 2020, the response time for the NYPD was less than 11 minutes.
Today, it's close to 16 minutes. Large part of that is because officers are now having to deal with 200,000 mental health calls. And so our proposal is create a partner of community safety, task it with the mental health crisis, the homelessness crisis, and allow officers to focus on serious crimes so we can get back to the work of delivering on this as opposed to being trapped in a political discourse without addressing the sustained crisis. Violent crime is substantially down under Commissioner Tish's watch.
Do you acknowledge that her approach is working? And therefore do you need to listen to her when she says, I need more cops on the street? The reason I made the decision to retain Commissioner Tisch is because of the importance of outcomes. The fact that she's been able to deliver on ruling out corruption while lowering crime is something to be celebrated.
And I think the commissioner and I have been very clear that what brings us together is a shared importance of public safety. I think we can do that with the officers. Would you rule out putting more police officers on the street? What I will tell you is that the 35,000 we have budgeted, that's the amount I think we.
Okay, let me ask you again. Just going back to that press conference with President Trump. As reporters were leaving, you were answering a question I think was hard for a lot of People to hear about your response to protests outside of Manhattan synagogue. Your initial response to that incident did receive some criticism, as you know.
What is your message to Jewish New Yorkers who feel you won't be tough enough in your response to anti Semitic incidents? That I'm looking forward to being the next mayor of New York City and fulfilling the commitment I've made to Jewish New Yorkers over the course of this campaign, which is a commitment to not only protect them across the five boroughs, but to celebrate and cherish them. And what that looks like is rooting out antisemitism. It looks like increasing funding for hate crime prevention programs at 800%.
And it also looks like ensuring that we have NYP protection outside of Senegal's temples, especially on the highway days. And I wanted to say recently on Yom Kippur, there was a horrific anti Semite attack in Manchester. A rabbi in New York City reached out to me and said, could you ensure there's additional police protection inside the synagogue for today? Yes, absolutely.
And I also asked, what if that rabbi did not know the next mayor of New York City? We have to make it so that it doesn't matter who you know. It matters that you will get that safety and security because you're a New Yorker. That's the administration I put together.
All right. I do want to talk a little bit about the future of the Democratic Party. A number of Republicans are casting you as the face of the Democratic Party, Mr. Merrillik.
I wonder, do you think that Democratic socialists can win across the country in battleground states, for example? I think a focus on the importance of dignity for working people is something that appeals to people across this country. I will not venture into the world of national politics and punitry, but I will tell you is that in New York City we saw so many of the same dynamics we've seen elsewhere. We've seen a shift towards the right.
We've seen obituary being written about the Democratic Party's ability to speak to young people, to speak to Asian vot, speak especially to young men. And actually shared this with the president that the very constituencies that he had won over that were a critical part of his increased vote share in New York City were the ones that we then looked at as we should focus on to bring back into the party. And I think that when you speak to those constituencies with the same respect you see to any other, you will see that they will then engage in the process. We saw an increase in voter turnout amongst 18 to 29 year old by more than 300%.
And that's because we spoke to them as New yorkers were facing a 4 billion crisis, not as young people. We have to finger wag to participate in democracy. Two more quick questions. If Democrats win the midterms, do you want to see Leader Jeffreys come?
Speaker of the House? Yes. Okay, that was a firm quick answer. So you leave plenty of time for my final answer.
Look, former President Obama called you after your victory and he offered to be a sounding board for you as you take on this role of mayor of New York City. What advice did he give you about how to lead effectively in these years ahead? You know, one thing I really appreciate about the conversation I've had with the president have been the importance of what it looks like only to inspire hope, but to sustain it and then to deliver on it. And time and time again, that comes back to the city hall that you're putting together.
Even right now, we have about 40 odd days of transition. Transitions are typically a time of pageantry and PoM. We want it to be a time of substance, a time of purpose. And so we ensured that the first day after the election, we announced our four incredible co chairs of our transition, our executive director, and then the week after that, the first deputy mayor, the chief of staff.
We're moving much faster than typical because we want January 1st of the day we start to deliver, not start to prepare. And I appreciate President Obama's emphasis of what it looks like to prepare in advance so that you can deliver. All right, Mayor Alex Zora Mamdani, thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it.
Thank you. Real pleasure.