New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani - after meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office - claims the president will release a woman after immigration agents arrested her.
Mamdani made a last-minute, unannounced visit to Washington to meet with the president on Thursday. The session was not on the president's public schedule.
Following the meeting, the president and the mayor had a follow-up phone call, according to Mamdani.
'Just got off the phone with President Trump. In our meeting earlier, I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva, who was detained by ICE this morning,' Mamdani posted on X Thursday afternoon.
'He has just informed me that she will be released imminently,' the mayor added.
School officials have said that Aghayeva was detained around 6:30 am inside a residential building.
'DHS illegally arrested me,' she wrote to her over 100,000 followers on Instagram Thursday alongside a picture of her in the back of a vehicle. 'Please help.'
Neither Trump nor any White House officials have commented on the meeting with Mamdani or if the president ordered the woman's release.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani went on a surprise trip to visit President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on Thursday. Mamdani posted this picture of himself with Trump following their meeting in the Oval Office
Elmina Aghayeva's student visa was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes, according to DHS
After the meeting, Mamdani posted on X that he called Trump and that the president will order the release of Elmina Aghayeva, an Azerbaijani student at Columbia University that was detained on Thursday morning
Elmina Aghayeva, pictured above, is a Columbia Student from Azerbaijan who was arrested on Thursday morning
'ICE arrested Elmina Aghayeva, an illegal alien from Azerbaijan, whose student visa was terminated in 2016 under the Obama administration for failing to attend classes. The building manager and her roommate let officers into the apartment,' a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said.
'She has no pending appeals or applications with DHS,' they added.
Earlier in the day, the New York City mayor posted a picture of himself and Trump in the Oval Office holding up newspapers.
The image showed Trump and Mamdani holding up newspapers. One showed Trump's face with the headline 'TRUMP TO CITY: LET'S BUILD' while the other paper, presumably a real one, showed a headline with ex-President Gerald Ford, with the headline 'FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD.'
'I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon,' Mamdani wrote in the post. 'I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City.'
The friendly photoshoot comes after a previous Mamdani White House visit where the two leaders praised each other and toutted their strong working relationship.
It also follows Trump's glowing State of the Union remarks about Mamdani.
'The new communist mayor of New York City, I think he's a nice guy, actually,' Trump said in his speech.
'I speak to him a lot. Bad policy, but nice guy.'
