WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has once again repeated his claim of playing a “central role” in easing tensions between India and Pakistan, this time during an Oval Office meeting with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani, who arrived in Washington for his first official engagement after his decisive election win, met President Trump at the White House on Friday. Calling the meeting “excellent,” Trump said he was “pleased” to speak with the incoming mayor of America’s largest city.
Standing jointly before journalists, Trump revived his controversial assertion that his administration was instrumental in averting a major confrontation between India and Pakistan earlier this year.
Referring to the May standoff, Trump said, “I made peace deals with eight nations, including India and Pakistan,” adding that his administration applied heavy pressure, including a threat of up to 350 percent import tariffs, to push both sides toward de-escalation.
He claimed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally assured him, “We are not going to war,” reiterating remarks he has repeated more than 60 times since May 10, when he stated on social media that Washington had facilitated a “full and immediate ceasefire.” India, however, has consistently denied accepting any third-party mediation.
The meeting also underscored Mamdani’s historic rise in American politics. He becomes the first South Asian and the first Muslim to lead New York City. Widely popular during the campaign, Mamdani defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa and former governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent with Trump’s last-minute endorsement.
Born in Kampala to filmmaker Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani, the mayor-elect moved to New York at the age of seven and obtained US citizenship in 2018. His appearance alongside Trump signaled a new phase in the relationship between the White House and the incoming administration of America’s largest city.
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