President Donald Trump and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul came to their Friday meeting at the White House with separate agendas.
Trump, who has called Hochul “a very nice woman,” wants her help in approving a gas pipeline that would run from Pennsylvania to New York and branch off to New England. The project for the Constitutional Pipeline got dropped in 2020 after the state said the pipeline did not meet New York’s water quality standards.
Hochul, meanwhile, saw the conversation as a chance to come back to the negotiating table on issues key to her state — namely, congestion pricing, which Trump killed last month by revoking federal approval.
Hochul spokesperson Jerrel Harvey wrote in a statement that Trump and Hochul talked about infrastructure, congestion pricing, tariffs and energy policy. “While no formal agreements or decisions were reached, it was a productive conversation and we look forward to continuing the dialogue in the coming weeks,” Harvey wrote.
Democratic governors like Hochul have found themselves in a tough position with Trump in the first weeks of his second term. But Hochul — though likening him to a monarch in his scuttling of congestion pricing — hasn’t confronted Trump quite like some of her counterparts have.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has compared the president’s first weeks in office to the end of democracy in pre-war Germany. Maine Gov. Janet Mills went viral after a February gathering of governors at the White House, where she told Trump, “See you in court,” over rules regarding transgender athletes.
As for Hochul’s approach to Trump, she’s referenced the Rambo movies to describe her strategy.
“Anybody watch First Blood? Someone draws first blood, you respond. I didn’t draw first blood, OK?” she said.
Hochul and Trump’s administrations have traded accusations and lawsuits — including over birthright citizenship, immigration policies and the Department of Government Efficiency.
Still, Hochul has to walk a fine political line on how much she can clash with the president. She said as much herself.
“I don't mind a fight at all. I grew up in a very tough neighborhood in Buffalo and got a lot of brothers, so I say bring it on. And I would say we're in that position right now,” Hochul said during an interview on “Fast Politics w/ Molly Jong-Fast” on Thursday. “We've had a lot of pretty high profile fights, and I'll do it. I'm not looking to hit him on every single thing because we'll lose our credibility.”
Hochul has endured dismal approval ratings for the past year, and lukewarm ones at best during her tenure. While a growing number of New York voters are hungry for moderate politics, state Democrats have questioned her viability for reelection in 2026. How she handles Trump could make or break her political future.
“She's playing the game a little bit differently — the resistance game,” said Grant Reeher, professor of political science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
“She doesn't want to be seen to be an ally of Donald Trump and his administration,” Reeher said. “She also has to worry about her left flank and being seen as too liberal.”
One fight she’s taken up is the congestion pricing law that charged tolls on drivers in Lower Manhattan. She said she talked to Trump to get his backing, only to see him revoke federal approval for it because he said the measure would hurt the city. That drew a lawsuit from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — and Hochul’s criticism.
“New York hasn’t labored under a king in over 250 years,” Hochul said while in New York City last month. “We sure as hell aren’t gonna start now.”
Four in 10 New Yorkers in the state want congestion pricing to be removed, according to a recent poll from Siena College. But the transit measure has gained more support since it was implemented in January, and Hochul’s defense of the policy is building goodwill with environmentalists and transit advocates.
She’s also said Trump’s tariffs — which he says are needed to support American businesses — could cost the average New Yorker as much as $1,200 annually.
“This is literally just the beginning of what we’re going to feel as a result of this administration,” Hochul said earlier this month after meeting with New York farmers.
But she’s been cautious about confronting Trump on positions that might be more controversial, especially around immigration.
She did not remove New York Mayor Eric Adams from office, despite corruption allegations and as some Democrats wanted.
The drama over Hochul’s decision regarding Adams’ tenure illustrates the unique bind Hochul is in.
“She's got to think about, ‘If I come in and remove Eric Adams after he's gotten this pass from the Trump administration because of immigration, will I then incur that wrath? Will this label me somehow as soft on immigration?’” Reeher said.
Adams has cooperated with Trump’s immigration crackdown — which Reeher said plays well with those concerned about public safety.
“The thing that the President is emphasizing on the immigration issue is largely public safety, and so that fits exactly into that narrative, where she has already seen that she is politically vulnerable,” he said.
Studies have repeatedly shown there is no link between immigration and crime, but that immigrants commit crime at a lower rate than native-born citizens.
Immigration advocates like Murad Awahdeh, the president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, want Hochul to stand up to Trump on immigration. They’re currently channeling their advocacy into the New York for All Act, which would prohibit state and local officials from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials over deportations — at a time when border czar Tom Homan has threatened to flood New York City with ICE agents if Hochul and state Democrats don’t take a tougher stance on immigration.
“While it's been great seeing Governor Hochul fight back against Donald Trump, we'd love for her to also support protecting our communities here across the state of New York, like supporting the New York for All Act,” Awahdeh said.
In a written statement, Hochul’s office said the governor will consider the bill, which was introduced several years ago, if state lawmakers pass it.
Hochul has said New York will work with ICE if a migrant in the state has committed a crime.
Morgan Hook, a Democratic strategist in New York, thinks immigration will be the biggest issue out of Washington that Hochul will have to address. The question is: Will she listen to progressive Democrats, or those voters who want more immigration enforcement?
“I think that we've already seen Governor Hochul take action that demonstrates that she's trying to align herself more with, I would say, middle of the road voters, swing voters, moderate voters,” Hook said.
