Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, is the clear head of the Democratic Party.
“You’ve got to have admiration for a candidate who ran a campaign the way he did, it was a great, great campaign,” Mr. Bessent said Tuesday on CNBC’s SquawkBox. “He is clearly the leader of the Democratic Party now.”
But he expressed skepticism that the 34-year-old Mr. Mamdani will be able to carry out his agenda of expanding free city services at taxpayer expense.
“It’s easy to run a campaign, but the practical everyday up-keeping, keeping people safe, picking up the trash, making the subways run on time — we’ll see,” Mr. Bessent said, calling Mr. Mamdani “a young man full of old ideas that have never worked.”
Mr. Bessent attended an Oval Office meeting with President Trump and Mr. Mamdani last week in which Mr. Trump praised the mayor-elect as a promising leader.
During the mayoral campaign, both men had harsh criticism for each other. Mr. Trump has repeatedly called Mr. Mamdani a communist, and Mr. Mamdani has called the president a fascist.
The Treasury secretary said it was “open-minded” of Mr. Trump to invite Mr. Mamdani to the White House. Mr. Bessent said Mr. Trump “wants what’s best for New Yorkers.”
Mr. Mamdani notably did not receive an endorsement from Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York, and only secured an endorsement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, in late October.
The president was all smiles as he spoke to the press after his meeting with the mayor-elect. He said the two spoke about affordability, crime in New York and housing, and that he was surprised at how much they agreed on.
“We’ve just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting,” Mr. Trump said, adding that they both have “one thing in common – we want this city of ours that we love to do very well.”
“The better he does, the happier I am,” Mr. Trump continued. “There’s no difference in party, there’s no difference in anything.”
Mr. Mamdani also called the meeting productive and said he was grateful to meet with Mr. Trump.
