During a meeting at the White House on 21 November, New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani openly condemned American financial support for what he described as a genocidal campaign in Gaza. The 34-year-old Democrat, the city’s first Muslim mayor, told reporters that many New Yorkers he had spoken with were concerned about taxpayer funds being used to support human rights violations abroad, alongside the broader desire to end “endless wars.”

Mamdani emphasised that his discussions with President Donald Trump focused on the urgent need to respect international human rights standards and ensure public resources are used to guarantee dignity for all citizens. “I spoke about the genocide being carried out by the Israeli regime and the funding of this genocide by our government,” he said. He added that New Yorkers expect their taxes to be directed toward their welfare rather than financing overseas violence.

Trump did not respond directly to Mamdani’s remarks, instead highlighting their shared commitment to peace in the Middle East. The meeting comes amid declining American support for Israel’s military actions in Gaza, and follows prior tensions in which Trump publicly criticised Mamdani as an “extreme-left radical,” a communist, and antisemitic, while threatening to withhold federal funding from New York City. Mamdani has also repeatedly challenged Trump’s immigration policies and other federal measures affecting the city’s large immigrant population.