Trump, Mamdani Need Each Other as 'Foils,' Says Max Rose

Max Rose, former Democratic Congressman from New York, says that Friday's meeting between New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani and President Trump shows how much the White House and New York City rely on each other for economic (and political) success. Rose says that while the meeting could be risky for Mamdani, the mayor-elect has a chance to put Trump on his back foot on affordability.

Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani are set to meet at the White House on Friday, the president said in a social media post.

The meeting marks the first time the two leaders will come together to discuss how they can work with each other since the election earlier this month.

Mamdani was elected as mayor of New York City after campaigning on a progressive platform that includes freezing the rent on more than 1 million stabilized apartments, providing universal child care, funding free buses and operating city-owned grocery stores. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, is seeking higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for his agenda.

Throughout Mamdani’s campaign, Trump repeatedly assailed him as a “communist” and warned his election would be devastating to New York City’s status as the world’s financial capital. The president, a native New Yorker, pushed voters to coalesce around former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary.

President Donald Trump has called New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and a “total nut job.” Mamdani has called Trump’s administration “authoritarian” and described himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”

So their first-ever meeting, scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. EST at the White House, could be a curious and combustible affair.

Despite months of casting each other as prime adversaries, the Republican president and new Democratic star have also indicated an openness to finding areas of agreement that help the city they’ve both called home.

Trump, in a Fox News Radio interview Friday morning, said he expected the meeting will be “quite civil.” Mamdani, a democratic socialist who takes office in January, said he sought the meeting with Trump to talk about ways to make New York City more affordable.

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Hegseth says he met Nigerian officials on Christian violence

The defense secretary said in a statement Friday that he welcomed Nigeria’s national security adviser to the Pentagon, where they “discussed ways to make tangible progress on stopping violence against Christians.”

Hegseth posted a cordial photo on X of him meeting Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on Thursday.

That contrasted with Trump’s social media post earlier this month, which instructed the Pentagon to plan for possible military action in Nigeria and said the U.S. could go in “guns-a-blazing” to wipe out Islamic militants.

Experts say both Muslims and Christians are being killed in ongoing violence in the West African country.

Trump administration sues California over giving in-state tuition to immigrants in US illegally

The Trump administration has sued California for providing in-state college tuition, scholarships, and state-funded financial aid to students who don’t have legal status to be in the United States.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, alleges the practice harms U.S. citizens and encourages illegal immigration. Among the defendants are the state, top state officials, and the state’s two public university systems, the University of California and California State.

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