Mamdani calls Trump on Venezuela to oppose ‘pursuit of regime change’
The new mayor of New York City didn’t talk much about the president in his first couple days in office. That changed Saturday.
By Sahalie Donaldson

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he called President Donald Trump to voice his opposition to the U.S military’s strike on Caracas and subsequent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro – a move the new mayor described earlier as "an act of war and a violation of federal and international law."

“I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act,” Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference Saturday. “And to make clear it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal, international law and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day.”

The call, which a City Hall spokesperson said lasted a few minutes, took place early in the afternoon – a few hours after Trump held his first news conference in wake of the early Saturday strike. Neither Mamdani nor a spokesperson for the mayor provided insight into how Trump responded.

Mamdani’s condemnation of the Republican president on Saturday marked a sharp departure from his public statements in the past few days. Prior to news of the military operation breaking, Mamdani had only mentioned Trump once since taking office on Thursday. And that had been a glancing comment during his inaugural address about how some Trump supporters voted for him – words intended to be unifying, not condemning.

https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2026/01/mamdani-calls-trump-venezuela-oppose-pursuit-regime-change/410441/