Exclusive: Mamdani on Extreme Weather, DoorDash, And Why Trump Likes Him So Much

Zohran Mamdani spoke at Climate Desk Live in New York City, September 24 2026. Anna Connors/Getty Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday directly linked the climate crisis to everyday issues facing New Yorkers, including commutes and affordability, while urging climate-concerned individuals to align with the fast-growing movement against data centers. “The way that climate is treated in public discourse, it’s almost as if it’s a concern that some can afford to have, while others have to deal with more immediate ones,” Mamdani told a packed crowd at Climate Desk Live. But climate change, Mamdani continued, drives up the “price of life” for us all, with Black, Latino and working-class people disproportionately expected to bear those costs. Meanwhile, the mayor added, corporations that are responsible for the most pollution face little to no real accountability. As for dispelling the notion that the crisis is a “luxury concern,” Mamdani urged people to connect climate to more localized issues, like the nascent movement against data centers. “That, too, could be the coalition against the climate crisis.” Mamdani’s sit-down with Mother Jones video correspondent Garrison Hayes came amid a packed week for New York and the mayor specifically. On Monday, Mamdani met with President Donald Trump, where he pitched the president on federal funding for a new affordable housing development. As many observed, Trump left looking decidedly happy with the mayor. Garrison Hayes had to ask.Video by David Ritsher When Hayes asked why the president seemed so enamored with him, Mamdani replied: “This is the city where the president comes from.” “The conversations we have are not just those of a mayor and a president, but those of two New Yorkers—New Yorkers with many differences of opinion, but who love this city,” Mamdani said. In his meeting with Trump, Mamdani said that he brought up the need for stability for Haitian New Yorkers, who recently had their TPS status ended. “As long as someone can help the city,” he said, “I’ll talk to them.” On Thursday, Mamdani also discussed his recent victory against DoorDash. “Earlier this week, we announced that we were holding DoorDash to account for having not paid their workers 260,000 workers 131.5 million dollars,” Mamdani said. DoorDash released a “notes app apology,” and is forking over the money. That same take-no-prisoners corporate-accountability approach, Mamdani said, could be applied to the climate crisis. “Corporations of this scale believe that they can get away with not paying or underpaying workers and never having to be called to account for it,” he said. When it comes to corporations causing climate harm, Mamdani said, “we’re still dealing with some of those decisions that were made decades ago.”