New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has met President Donald Trump at the White House to press for $21 billion in federal support aimed at expanding affordable housing and upgrading infrastructure in the city.
The unannounced meeting took place on Thursday and focused on a large-scale development proposal in Queens that would include the construction of 12,000 affordable housing units alongside new parks, schools and healthcare facilities. According to a statement from the mayor’s office, the plan represents one of the most ambitious urban investment efforts in decades.
Mamdani later shared an image from the Oval Office showing him presenting the president with a mock newspaper front page carrying the headline "Trump to city: Let’s build.” In a message posted on X after the talks, the mayor described the discussion as productive and said he hoped to move forward with plans to expand housing across New York City.
City officials said the funding request covers both residential construction and supporting infrastructure in a Queens neighbourhood identified for redevelopment. The mayor’s office described the initiative as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address persistent housing shortages and rising living costs in the nation’s largest city. If approved, it would amount to the most significant housing and infrastructure commitment in New York for more than half a century.
Although President Trump and Mamdani have previously exchanged criticism in public, their earlier meeting at the White House in November was described by both sides as constructive. Thursday’s discussions reportedly ended with an agreement to continue negotiations in the coming weeks over the scope and financing of the project.
Following the meeting, Mamdani also said that Trump had agreed to facilitate the release of a Columbia University student who had been detained earlier in the day by federal immigration authorities. No further details were immediately provided by the White House regarding that development.
The outcome of the funding request remains uncertain, but the proposal underscores the scale of New York City’s housing challenges and the political complexities involved in securing federal backing for major urban development projects.
