President Donald Trump scaled back threats he has made to deploy the National Guard to New York City under Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani‘s leadership, saying “other places need it more.”
Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House on Saturday, where he was asked if he would still “plan” to send troops to the Big Apple as part of a broader crime crackdown in mostly Democrat-led cities.
“If they need it. Right now, other places need it more, but if they need it,” Trump said, before touting his meeting with Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday. “We had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that, but if they need it, I would do it.”
The comments, while not ruling out a troop deployment, signal Trump is warming to Mamdani after a surprisingly friendly meeting between the two. It included the president extending an olive branch to the mayor-elect’s administration after lobbing criticism at the socialist on the campaign trail.
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. … I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help them do a great job,” Trump said in a press conference following the sit-down.
TRUMP TRADES IN ATTACKS FOR PRAISE AS HE HOSTS MAMDANI IN REMARKABLY RESPECTFUL OVAL OFFICE MEETING
Trump’s National Guard deployments have also been beset by legal setbacks, with the Supreme Court currently weighing an earlier one to Chicago.
Despite that deployment being blocked in court, Trump has continued to suggest it is necessary to combat crime in the Windy City, most recently as Saturday afternoon, when he claimed “The people are chanting, BRING IN TRUMP!!!”
