New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani denounced President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran as “illegal” and “a catastrophic escalation” — just two days after a friendly visit to the White House.
The democratic socialist mayor wasted little time in voicing his opposition to the attacks, issuing a lengthy statement shortly after the U.S. and Israel began bombarding Tehran and other targets across the Middle Eastern nation.
The strikes left hundreds of people dead, including the country’s supreme leader, according to state media, and triggered a wave of retaliatory attacks on U.S. and Israeli assets, sparking fears of a broader conflict. Trump has said the bombardments will continue for weeks, if not longer.
“Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression,” Mamdani, 34, wrote on X. “Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this.”
He also said he was bolstering the city’s police presence out of an “abundance of caution,” and specifically addressed the Iranian-Americans living in the five boroughs, assuring them: “You are part of the fabric of this city…You will be safe here.”
Mamdani’s condemnation of Trump’s surprise military operation — which was more unequivocal than that of many high-ranking Democrats — came just 48 hours after the pair’s latest White House meeting.
The mayor described the sit-down as “productive” and posted a photo of himself beside Trump in the Oval Office. In it, Trump was grinning and holding up mock newspapers touting the president’s support for new housing construction.
In a statement to Politico, Mamdani addressed the shift from his cordial in-person demeanor to his sharp rebuke online.
“In my relationship with the president, it has always been one that has also been honest and direct, where both of us make clear our policy disagreements, both in public and in private, and I think it’s important to be on the record here, given the scale of the consequences that we are speaking about,” the mayor told the outlet.
Mamdani also defended his latest meeting during a press conference yesterday, telling reporters: “As the mayor of our city, I will always look to keep an open line of communication with the president of our country.”
Before his November election, Mamdani and Trump frequently exchanged barbs, with the then-state assemblyman labeling the president a “fascist” and “despot,” while Trump branded Mamdani a “100% communist lunatic.”
However, on November 21, the pair stunned observers with their first White House meeting, which turned out to be surprisingly cordial, bordering on a love-fest.
“I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor — the better he does, the happier I am,” Trump said at the time, while seated next to Mamdani.
And, during last week’s State of the Union address, the 79-year-old president made clear he likes Mamdani personally, despite their policy clashes.
“I think he’s a nice guy. I actually speak to him a lot — bad policy, but nice guy, Trump told the crowd assembled in the House chamber. He went on to suggest that the mayor is a hypocrite for not supporting voter ID.
Saturday’s strikes on Iran weren’t the only issue to spark pushback from Mamdani.
On Thursday, the mayor said he called Trump to share his concerns about the arrest of a Columbia University student by federal agents. He wrote that the president informed him the student, Elmina Aghayeva, would be “released imminently.”
