Zohran Mamdani, the young upstart of the US left, was readying Wednesday to take over as New York mayor for a term sure to see him cross swords with President Donald Trump.
After the clocks strike midnight (0500 GMT Thursday), bringing in 2026, Mamdani will take his oath of office at an abandoned subway stop, taking the helm of the United States’ largest city. He will be New York’s first Muslim mayor.
His office says the understated venue for the swearing-in reflects his commitment to working people, after the 34-year-old Democrat campaigned on promises to address the soaring cost of living.
“Our campaign was built around listening to the people of New York, and we will govern in the same way. Tomorrow, we get to work,” Mamdani said Wednesday on X.
But it remains to be seen if Mamdani — virtually unknown a year ago — can deliver on his ambitious agenda, which envisions rent freezes, universal childcare and free public buses.
Once an election is over, “symbolism only goes so far with voters. Results begin to matter a whole lot more,” New York University lecturer John Kane said.
How Trump handles Mamdani’s arrival at City Hall could be a decisive factor.
The Republican, himself a New Yorker, has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, but the pair held surprisingly cordial talks at the White House in November.
Lincoln Mitchell, a political analyst and professor at Columbia University, said the meeting “couldn’t have gone better from Mamdani’s perspective.”
But he warned their relationship could quickly sour.
One flashpoint might be immigration raids as Trump wages an expanding crackdown on migrants across the United States.
Mamdani has vowed to protect immigrant communities.
Before the November vote, the president also threatened to slash federal funding for New York if it picked Mamdani, whom he called a “communist lunatic.”
The mayor-elect has said he believes Trump is a fascist.
