AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

President Donald Trump and the future Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani met today at the White House after months of trading insults.

In an Oval Office meeting, they were far more civilized, with the president at points praising the mayor-elect, despite their political differences.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: I expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help, because I want New York City to be great.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), New York City Mayor-Elect: And what I really appreciate about the president is, the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers.

AMNA NAWAZ: Both said that they will look to work together to improve the nation's largest city.

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, has been following today's meeting and joins us now from the White House.

So, Liz, what happened today in that Oval Office meeting and what was behind the change in tone that we saw, especially from President Trump?

LIZ LANDERS: Amna, today was quite the turn of events, especially after these two men have been trading barbs through the media really for months now, in the past, President Trump calling Mamdani a communist, Mamdani in turn calling the president a despot.

Today, a much calmer tone between those two men, indicating that they plan to work together in the future.

Mamdani's spokesperson had said before this meeting that this was a customary type of meeting, that the mayor of America's largest city would go meet at the White House with the president and that they were hoping to focus on issues like public safety, economic security and affordability.

And it was really that last part that we heard over and over from these two men today, affordability.

I just have to say, Amna, throughout this whole Oval Office meeting today, it was quite a different tune, especially from President Trump.

Listen to what he said earlier today.

DONALD TRUMP: I don't care about affiliations or parties or anything else.

I want to see -- if this city could be unbelievable, if he could be a spectacular success, I'd be very happy.

LIZ LANDERS: And one of the most surprising moments in this Oval Office meeting that happened around 3:00 p.m.

today was Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York, got a question from a reporter about the fact that he has made comments likening President Trump to a fascist in the past.

Mamdani started to explain himself and President Trump stepped in from the Resolute Desk there saying: It's OK,.

You can just say yes.

That's easier.

It's easier than explaining.

So, the president almost sort of coming to Mamdani's defense, trying to explain this for him, just a very unusual setup that we saw there today, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Some remarkable moments in that meeting today, Liz.

LIZ LANDERS: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: But, based on your reporting, what can you share with us about what the meeting actually focused on?

LIZ LANDERS: This largely focused on this issue of affordability.

And we have heard President Trump talk about this now in the last few weeks, I think, after those special elections at the beginning of the month, where a lot of voters voted in the ballot box and said that economic issues, affordability is their top issue right now.

We heard that repeatedly throughout this meeting, President Trump saying that he hopes to work with Mamdani about lowering the cost of rent in New York City, building additional housing units there as well.

They also talked about getting Con Edison -- that's the energy provider in New York City -- getting those prices down too, and Mamdani echoing this as well.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), New York City Mayor-Elect: When we spoke to those voters who voted for President Trump, we heard them speak about cost of living.

We focused on that same cost of living.

And that's where I am really looking forward to delivering for New Yorkers in partnership with the president on the affordability agenda.

LIZ LANDERS: Now, President Trump, in the last few weeks, has threatened to withhold federal funding for New York City for projects like infrastructure projects, public safety, hospitals, et cetera.

There's all kinds of federal funding that goes to various cities.

Today, though, he seemed to back off that a little bit.

He was asked about that threat in particular, and he said, look, I don't want to send money to New York if it's being used in ways that I don't agree with, but he said that after today that he didn't think that was going to happen, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Liz, as you reported, they both indicated they'd like to work together moving forward.

Any takeaways from the meeting about what that looks like?

LIZ LANDERS: Well, they were asked if they would have future meetings, and President Trump said that he certainly hopes so.

Look, the president recognized that there are topics and areas that they will disagree on, but he even went so far today as to say, when asked by reporters, that he would feel comfortable living in Mamdani's New York City under his leadership after this meeting today.

But, Amna, one more thing to add when we're looking ahead to the midterm elections next year in 2026, it will be very difficult for Republicans to tie the entire Democratic Party to Zohran Mamdani's policies when we see today that President Trump agreed with much of what Mamdani was talking about, and many of these policies, they seemed to find common ground on, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that's our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, leading our coverage tonight.

Liz, thank you.