(MENAFN- Live Mint) New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani stated Thursday that he is“not concerned” about his upcoming meeting with President Donald Trump. He pledged to focus the discussion on how they can collaborate to make the city more affordable.

Mamdani, at a news conference outside New York City Hall said that he hopes to“share the facts about the affordability crisis in the city” while dismissing the idea that the president could use the meeting to embarrass him, AP reported.

“I have many disagreements with the President, and I believe that we should be relentless and pursue all avenues and all meetings that can make our city affordable for every single New Yorker,” AP quoted Mamdani addressing the reporters.

“I intend to make it clear to President Trump that I will work with him on any agenda that benefits New Yorkers. If an agenda hurts New Yorkers, I will also be the first to say so,” he added.

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said that Trump is willing to "meet anyone" and try to do "what is right" on behalf of the American people, while calling Mamdani a "communist".

"... The President issued a statement that the Mayor-elect will be coming to the Oval Office tomorrow, so our teams are arranging those details... It speaks volumes that tomorrow we have a Communist coming to the White House, because that's who the Democrat Party elected as the Mayor of the largest city in the country," Leavitt told reporters.

She further claimed that New York City is shifting more "Left" than President Trump expected.

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"It's very telling but it also speaks to the fact that President Trump is willing to meet with anyone and talk to anyone and try to do what's right on behalf of the American people, whether they live in blue states or red states or blue cities and the city which is becoming much more Left than the President ever anticipated in his many years of living in New York himself," Leavitt said.

Mamdani, who calls himself a democratic liberal, achieved a remarkable victory in New York City's mayoral race this month, with a campaign primarily focused on the city's affordability crisis. He pledged to utilise government power to support the working class amid constant criticism from the Trump administration.

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