The president’s Oval Office meeting with New York’s incoming leader is not open to the press.
Trump, 79, frequently invites reporters into the Oval Office for a front-seat view as he sits down with U.S. and world leaders, but, according to his schedule, the media was barred from his first meeting with Mamdani, the Democratic socialist 45 years his junior.
Their first face-to-face comes after Trump lobbed a series of nasty attacks on the political upstart who mounted an underdog campaign and went on to win the race to lead the largest city in the U.S.
Trump has blasted Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” and “not very smart.” He falsely accused him of being in the country illegally, threatened to arrest him, and warned that he would cut off money to New York if he won.
You’re right, there are secret meetings between powerful individuals that should remain hidden from public knowledge
Not every conversation needs to be public.
Not every conversation, but every conversation between powerful individuals.
And maybe that’s an impractical standard, but the spirit of it is more liberating than letting corruption fester in the darkness.
It is an impractical standard. While I understand where you’re coming from, I think sometimes you need to allow people an opportunity to talk without every word being judged.
If the meeting is public, then it will never be a true conversation. It will be 2 people giving prepared statements in the form of a conversation.