STORY: New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani used his first White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday (November 21) to restate his accusation that the Israeli government is "committing genocide," and to criticize U.S. funding of Israeli military actions.

Pressed by a reporter on his past comments about the subject, Mamdani drew a distinction between Israel and the United States, saying he had "spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide" and about "our government funding it." He told Trump that many New Yorkers want their tax dollars redirected from foreign conflicts to basic needs at home, citing a ninth consecutive year in which more than 100,000 schoolchildren in New York City are homeless.

Mamdani said he told the president he appreciates "all efforts towards peace," including those attributed to Trump in the Middle East, but stressed that such efforts must be matched by adherence to international human rights.

Trump did not directly respond to Mamdani's characterization of Israeli actions as genocide during the brief press availability, and the two men did not publicly elaborate on any concrete policy shifts on Israel and Palestine emerging from their meeting.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 21, 2025) (UNRESTRICTED POOL - Access all)

1. U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SPEAKING DURING PRESS CONFERENCE ALONG WITH NEW YORK MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK MAYOR-ELECT, ZOHRAN MAMDANI, IN EXCHANGE WITH OFF-CAMERA REPORTER, SAYING:

REPORTER (OFF-CAMERA): “You accused the U.S. government of committing genocide in Gaza when President Trump was working on peace. Why that?”

MAMDANI: “I’ve spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide and I've spoken about our government funding it. And I shared with the president in our meeting about the concern that many New Yorkers have of wanting their tax dollars to go towards the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to afford basic dignity. And what we see right now is we're in the ninth consecutive year of more than 100,000 schoolchildren being homeless in our city. And there's a desperate need not only for the following of human rights, but also the following through on the promises we've made New Yorkers. And I appreciated the meeting we had and the work that we can do.”

REPORTER (OFF-CAMERA): “But do you agree that President Trump did do the peace and worked hard to make the peace because he worked hard to make the peace in the Middle East and everywhere. But do you agree with that?”

MAMDANI: “I appreciate all efforts towards peace, and I shared with President Trump that when I spoke to Trump voters on Hillside Avenue, including one of whom was a pharmacist that spoke about how President Trump's father actually went to that pharmacy not too far from Jamaica Estates (NOTE: Jamaica Estates is a neighborhood in the Queens borough of NY), that people were tired of seeing our tax dollars fund, endless wars. And I also believe that we have to follow through on the international human rights. And I know that still today those are being violated. And that continues to be work that has to be done no matter where we're speaking of.”

3. JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION TO TRUMP

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, IN EXCHANGE WITH OFF-CAMERA REPORTER, SAYING:

REPORTER (OFF-CAMERA): “And also, will you do anything to stop him from arresting Prime Minister Netanyahu if he visits New York?”

TRUMP: “Well, we didn't discuss your second part of the question. And on your first part, I mean, he's got views, a little out there, but who knows? I mean, we're going to see what works or he's going to change also, we all change. I changed a lot. Changed a lot from when I first came to office. It's now quite a while ago. It's quite a while. My first term was great. We had the greatest economy in the history of our country and we're doing even better now. We're doing much better now than we did even the first term. And I can tell you some of my views have changed and we had discussions on something, I'm not going to discuss what they were, but that I feel very confident that he can do a very good job. I think he's going to be I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually."

5. REPORTERS LISTENING TO TRUMP