President Donald Trump said Saturday he is pressing pause on deploying the National Guard to New York City, arguing other American cities “need it more” at the moment. The president’s comments came one day after he hosted Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who will become New York City’s next mayor, at the White House.Trump had previously listed New York among the Democrat-run cities where he was prepared to deploy the National Guard, saying in August he would “help” fight crime in the city after completing operations in Chicago, Mediaite.

MS NOW reporter Akayla Gardner asked Trump if he still planned to send the Guard to New York while he took questions before departing for Joint Base Andrews.

“If they need it. Right now, other places need it more, but if they need it,” Trump said. “We had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that, but if they need it, I would do it.”