Mamdani and Obama meet face-to-face in New York City

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will meet with former President Barack Obama on Saturday. (Getty Images, AP via CNN Newsource)

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani met with former president Barack Obama on Saturday at a childcare event in New York City.

Mamdani and Obama greeted children and parents during the event at an early childhood education center. Politico first reported news of the potential meeting.

“In between singing wheels on the bus, the two leaders discussed the Mayor’s vision for the City,” Mamdani press secretary Joe Calvello posted on X.

The two leaders spoke prior to Election Day in November, according to three sources familiar with the call. Obama told Mamdani during the call that many people would be watching to see how effectively a democratic socialist could run the nation’s largest city, and how many critics would be waiting to pounce if it went wrong. The former president also told Mamdani, whom he didn’t endorse during the 2025 election cycle, to prioritize making good hires to his administration.

The conversation gave Mamdani a clearer sense of the difference between running and governing, a source familiar with the call told CNN at the time.

Mamdani has met face-to-face with U.S. President Donald Trump twice. They held seemingly collegial Oval Office meetings last year and earlier this year. But Trump took to social media this week to write an all-caps post stating that Mamdani is “destroying” New York with his new pied-à-terre tax, which would require residents with second homes in the city valued over US$5 million to face a surcharge.

Mamdani did not say whether he has spoken to Trump since the president’s social media post, but said he wasn’t surprised Trump disagreed with the policy.