White House blasts Mamdani for hosting pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at Gracie Mansion

The White House blasted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for hosting pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil for Ramadan at Gracie Mansion.

“No one should be feting the anti-American, pro-terrorist activities of Mahmoud Khalil, who made his name as a ringleader of violent anti-American and anti-Semitic university protests that harmed American foreign policy interests,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The New York Post on Tuesday.

Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student, and his family dined with Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, at the mayoral residence on the Upper East Side Monday night.

Mamdani posted a photo of the dinner on X on Monday, writing, "For Mahmoud Khalil, this past year has been marked by profound hardship—and by profound courage. A year ago, Mahmoud was walking home through our city after sharing an iftar with his wife Noor when he was detained by federal agents, flown to Louisiana, and then held in an ICE facility for months. In that time, he was forced to miss the birth of his first child. All of this for exercising his First Amendment rights in protesting the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

"And yet, even in the face of that cruelty, there has also been beauty. New Yorkers raising their voices in solidarity. A city refusing to look away. Mahmoud won his freedom, and a father was finally reunited with his child. Last night, as we marked the one year anniversary of his detention, Rama and I were honored to welcome Mahmoud, Noor, and their son Deen to Gracie Mansion to break our fast together. Mahmoud is a New Yorker, and he belongs in New York City."

Khalil is a Syrian-born activist who participated in anti-Israel campus protests, and called the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel an unavoidable moment justified by the terrorist group’s “struggle.”

He was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year, and faces deportation after the Trump administration accused him of committing fraud on his green card application. The White House claims that Khalil is a Hamas supporter, and is attempting to use a statute that allows for non-citizens to be deported if their beliefs could pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.