Inside Trump and Mamdani’s 2-hour phone call after the New York City ICE shooting

Trump and Mamdani’s Call After Bronx ICE Shooting Ends Without Deal

Healfromzero.com – Inside Trump and Mamdani’s 2-hour phone call, President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sought an agreement after a shooting involving federal immigration agents in the Bronx. Their talks were described as courteous, but they ended without resolving what would happen to Oscar Belgal, who was wounded and remained in federal custody.

Belgal, a 28-year-old undocumented immigrant, was driving with his 5-year-old child in the back seat when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents opened fire during a targeted operation. Officials described his neck injury as superficial.

The events became an immediate test of Mamdani’s effort to maintain direct communication with Trump despite major political differences. The mayor sought a local investigation into the shooting, while federal officials focused on Belgal’s immigration status, alleged gang connections and prior law-enforcement history.

Proposal to transfer Belgal to NYPD custody

Trump, Mamdani and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin discussed transferring Belgal from federal custody to the New York Police Department. Trump and Mullin indicated that federal authorities were willing to release him if the NYPD would take custody and pursue applicable charges.

Mamdani declined. A person familiar with the conversations said there was no arrest warrant and no legal basis for the NYPD to detain Belgal, preventing the proposed transfer from moving forward.

“There was no warrant out for his arrest, no legal basis for the NYPD to take him into custody,” the person said.

Mullin later said Trump had urged the mayor to let the NYPD hold Belgal because of his prior record. He said federal officials would release Belgal to city police if the department chose to pursue charges.

“If NYPD wants to take the charges and pursue the charges, we’ll be happy to release him into the custody of NYPD,” Mullin said. “The mayor once again said we will not be detaining him.”

Competing accounts of the Bronx incident

The Department of Homeland Security said Belgal has alleged ties to the Trinitarios gang and a previous grand larceny conviction. The department also cited earlier arrests involving assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession.

Marcos Charles, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations’ executive associate director, said Belgal had been under DHS investigation in connection with the shooting of a Customs and Border Protection agent. Charles also said Belgal had avoided federal immigration officers in September.

Mamdani proposed that the NYPD investigate the shooting by federal agents if those agents left the immediate area that evening. He did not agree that the city police department could arrest Belgal without sufficient legal grounds.

Inside Trump and Mamdani’s 2-hour discussion, that disagreement proved decisive: the administration sought a city detention arrangement, while the mayor maintained that the NYPD could not lawfully take Belgal into custody under the circumstances described.

Protests and a growing political divide

Demonstrators gathered in the Bronx neighborhood as White House and city officials continued talking. Some protesters clashed with police as the evening progressed, increasing pressure on officials responding to the shooting.

Mamdani later appeared near the scene for a late-night news conference, condemning ICE and calling for greater accountability from the agency.

“Today’s shooting is only further devastating confirmation of what we have long known: that ICE operates with impunity, that they sow chaos and terror across our country,” Mamdani said.

The phone call underscored the limits of cooperation between Trump and Mamdani. Although the two leaders remained in contact, they left the central custody question unresolved as Belgal stayed in federal custody.

FAQ: What New Yorkers Should Know

What was the main disagreement between Trump and Mamdani?

The central dispute was whether the NYPD should take Oscar Belgal into custody after federal authorities released him. Mamdani’s position was that city police lacked a legal basis to detain him without a warrant or applicable charges.

Who is investigating the ICE shooting?

Mamdani proposed that the NYPD investigate the shooting involving federal agents. Federal officials, meanwhile, cited their own investigation and allegations concerning Belgal.

Why did the Trump and Mamdani call matter?

Inside Trump and Mamdani’s 2-hour exchange was a broader clash over immigration enforcement, local policing and federal authority in New York City. The call showed that direct communication did not erase their sharply different views of the case.