Trump, Mamdani meet again to discuss housing and student ICE detentions

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - File picture of US President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani reacting as they speak to members of the media in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC. Mamdani said he had a productive meeting with Trump at the White House on Thursday, discussing issues including housing and student detentions by federal immigration authorities. — Reuters pic

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he had a productive meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, discussing issues including housing and student detentions by federal immigration authorities.

It was the second meeting between them since Mamdani’s mayoral election win late last year. Mamdani is a Democrat and Trump a Republican.

Mamdani posted a photo with Trump on social media. “I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon. I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City,” Mamdani wrote.

Mamdani said he raised concerns with Trump about a detention on Thursday of Columbia University student Elmina Aghayeva from Azerbaijan by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and that Trump later informed him she will be “released imminently.”

The federal Homeland Security Department subsequently said it freed Aghayeva and launched removal proceedings against her.

While both men have been critical of each other’s policy positions and hold radically different worldviews, their previous meeting in November was unexpectedly friendly.

In that meeting too, they spoke about bringing down the price of housing. A former real estate developer, Trump had brightened at Mamdani’s call for more housing in New York.

Making housing more affordable has been one of Trump’s pledges ahead of the midterm elections in late 2026 as prices for housing remain significantly higher than they were a few years ago. Cost of living and affordability were also issues at the heart of Mamdani’s mayoral victory.

Trump reiterated his pledge in his State of the Union speech this week and has announced some policies aimed at addressing the problem. Still, US mortgage rates remain high and the housing supply in most of the country is short of what is needed to meet demand. This leaves the cost of home ownership increasingly out of reach for many families.

Economists and trade groups say Trump’s aggressive trade and immigration policies have raised prices for building materials and appliances and undercut labor supply, making it harder for builders to ramp up housing construction.

Mamdani has criticised Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown, especially his use of ICE agents and deportation attempts, along with the president’s policies towards Israel’s war in Gaza.

Mamdani’s office said he handed a list to the White House of four pro-Palestinian students battling deportation attempts and asked for help to dismiss those cases.

The four names were Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, Mohsen Mahdawi and Leqaa Kordia. Kordia, who was recently hospitalised after a seizure in detention and has lost dozens of family members in Gaza, remains detained by ICE while the other three were released over the last year.

Trump has cast pro-Palestinian protesters as antisemitic. Demonstrators, including some Jewish groups, say he wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, as well as their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism. — Reuters