It is no ordinary time to lead a city. Budgets are in flux. Divisions are deepening. Political violence and misinformation are growing concerns. And as President Trump aggressively pursues his agenda, national politics are becoming an inescapable reality in city halls.
The New York Times sat down last month with 16 mayors at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Tampa, Fla. We asked them many of the same questions. Their answers revealed deep, bipartisan uncertainty over federal funding and concerns about rising incivility. Mayors of some of the nation’s largest cities, including New York and Los Angeles, did not attend.
Some Republican mayors spoke hopefully about this new Trump era. Many others, especially Democrats, who hold the majority of big-city mayoral jobs, voiced alarm about how the administration’s policies were playing out.
Here’s what we heard.
Across party lines, this one issue was a persistent concern.
Americans have been telling their mayors that they are worried about everyday costs and struggling to afford a place to live.
With home prices rising and supply limited, several mayors said they were trying to build more units and meet demand. It was a challenge playing out in nearly every city, with young professionals struggling to buy their first houses and growing homeless populations straining city services.
Mayors told us what else was keeping them up at night.
They described spending significant time outside the office worrying about local and national problems. As the mayor of Noblesville, Ind., put it: “My job is not nine to five. I’m mayor regardless of where I am.”
Some described the fear of receiving a phone call with news of another shooting. Others spoke about wanting to fix endemic issues like homelessness and drug addiction.
Governing a city feels different under President Trump, most mayors said.
With the Trump administration seeking to rapidly overhaul parts of the federal government, mayors from both parties described uncertainty over the fate of federal grants and other programs that Republicans in Washington have targeted.
Many Democrats said they had strong relationships with former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s staff members and had not yet built those same connections with Mr. Trump’s team. Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago, whose city has been singled out for criticism by Mr. Trump, said that “the very basic fundamental rights of our democracy are under siege.”
Some Republicans described optimism about working with the new president, and not all of them had seen major changes. Mayor D.C. Reeves of Pensacola, Fla., said that “it’s probably too early to say that there’s a distinct difference.” Mayor Acquanetta Warren of Fontana, Calif., said it was “not at all” different. “We work with anyone,” she said.
We also asked whether mayors had changed their routines because of political violence.
Several mayors said they had taken additional steps to ensure their safety since the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in June and other recent attacks. But political violence, many of them noted, was not new. Mayor Regina Romero of Tucson, a Democrat, pointed to the attempted assassination of Representative Gabby Giffords in her city in 2011.
And Mayor Indya Kincannon of Knoxville, a Democrat, said she had been inside a local church with her young daughters when a gunman opened fire in 2008, killing two people, in an attack linked to hatred of liberals and gay people. She remembered escaping with her daughters. “I picked them up and left as soon as the gunman was tackled,” she said.
“It’s a difficult time for people in public office, and when you see the tragedy that took place in Minnesota, you have to be always wondering.
“No. But all I can say is the political violence that has been promulgated. There is no place for that.”
“I have. In light of recent violence, I am more aware of my surroundings and my family.”
“It’s a disturbing time for elected officials.”
“As a former police chief and spending 40 years in law enforcement, I am enthusiastically aware of the fact that there is always a possibility of violence against you, but that doesn’t mean we are always aware of that threat.
“One of the things we did right away was taking more precautions at City Hall.”
“I haven’t made any changes to my interactions with my community, but I’ll admit that my stress and anxiety levels have risen a bit.”
“There’s nothing lasting yet, but I’m certainly seeing it.”
Immigration enforcement is creating fear in many cities, too.
Mayors from both parties called on the federal government to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.
“You couldn’t talk to a mayor who doesn’t want immigration reform,” said Mayor Kathy Sheehan of Albany, a Democrat. “We want Washington to fix this.”
But as the Trump administration works to increase deportations and remove legal status for some immigrants, mayors said that some in their cities were living in constant fear of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Mayors also pointed to local programs that could be national models.
“I approached me with my local therapist and said, ‘Hey, do you go to Facebook, have a live therapy session and talk about what it’s like to be a leader during Covid?” Of course, my first answer was, ‘Absolutely not, I don’t want to share my feelings with my community.’ ”
“But I’ve relented it. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done. It was literally an hour-long therapy session where I was talking about my feelings, and talking about being a leader in those uncertain times.
He added: “We’ve now comforted our communities and our cities and demonstrated that it’s not okay.”
“Now, our biggest challenge in town is homelessness. That’s what our masses are trying to solve us, so we’re on the steroids doing it. We bought a hotel last year.
“We planted over 150,000 trees over the past six years. We created a heat tree map, where we look at areas of less typical urban areas, because trees are a natural-based solution for heat and climate.”
“Last year, despite high interest rates and high inflation, we allowed around 8,800 new homes in my city, more than double what we have done historically.
We wanted to know what policy change under Trump was having the biggest impact, too.
We spoke to the mayors before Congress passed Mr. Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill. They told us they had spent months bracing for severe cuts to federal funding for local programs, though many of their worst-case fears had not materialized at that point.
Some described the pausing of grants while the Trump administration re-evaluated previously approved projects, leaving cities in limbo. In places where the local economy is highly dependent on international trade, mayors voiced concern about the uncertainty around tariffs.
And mayors told us what they had learned about the United States in the last year.
Both Republicans and Democrats said the depth of the country’s political divisions had become even more clear in recent months. Some Democrats said they were still processing Mr. Trump’s return to power and what it means for the country’s future.
We also asked some lighter questions, like which TV or streaming show they liked best.
Mayors also revealed their favorite after-work beverages.
Many mayors were eager to plug local craft breweries. Mayor Daniel Rickenmann of Columbia gave a shout-out to the Kentucky distillery that he cofounded. Others preferred a particular soft drink.
We asked them to brag about their cities’ signature dishes, too.
They boasted about a Friday night fish fry in Milwaukee, fish tacos in San Diego and Mexican food in Fresno and Fontana. Knoxville’s mayor suggested “meat and three,” the local term for meat and three side dishes, while Pensacola’s mayor highlighted his city’s seafood.
Two mayors shared different theories on hot dogs. And two Midwestern mayors boasted about their pork tenderloins.
Their bookshelves are also as varied as their cities.
When asked about the best book they had read recently, mayors shared a range of fiction and nonfiction titles.
Mayor Alyia Gaskins of Alexandria said much of her reading time was spent with her young children, who enjoy “Little Blue Truck” and “Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site.” The mayors of Fontana, Knoxville and San Diego all praised “Abundance” by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.
“One Blood” by John M. Perkins
“The Gentleman of Moscow” by Amor Towles
“Wisdom Pattern” by Richard Lohr
“The Land of Memorized” by Patrick D. Smith. “It’s a novel, but it’s about Florida history.”
“Our own rock” by James Forman Jr. “I encourage people all over America to see it, especially in an age when the physical states are instituted by this federal government.”
“Rockets ‘Red Glare” by William Webster and Dick Lochte
The 1619 Project by Nicole Hannah Jones, a native of Waterloo. Also known as “Anesa, No Scola Today” by Anesa Kajtazovich, a children’s book about growing up during the Bosnian War.
Mark Butterson’s “Circle Maker.” “It’s all a big prayer, a big bold idea.”
“Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. “It’s probably the saddest book I’ve ever read, but it was really, really, really well written and wonderful.”
“Teenage Brain” by Dr. Francis E. Jensen. “It really helped me understand my teenagers and why they do what they do.”
“On Leadership” by Tony Blair. “I think it’s incredible to provoke provocation as a leader. I probably should have read it at the beginning of my administration, but I’ve learned a lot.”
“I’m reading it now: “The Promised Land” by Barack Obama. I’m the mayor and have three kids so I’m a little late, but I’m making up for that now. ”
Finally, we wanted to know what gave mayors hope for the United States.
Across party lines, mayors spoke about frightening political divisions, seemingly intractable problems and serious fears about the future. But most also voiced optimism about the country, drawing hope from America’s history and especially from the people they meet in their own cities.
