new york city mayor bill de blasio, who won office in 2013 on a promise to advance a liberal policy agenda, backed away from his sharp criticism of president-elect donald trump on wednesday and said he hoped to find common ground. <u+201c>i take solace in the fact that the president-elect is a dyed-in-the-wool new yorker,<u+201d> said mr. de blasio during a city hall news conference in which he urged mr. trump, a republican and native new yorker, to work with his administration. <u+201c>i hope and trust he will remember the lessons of a life lived in new york city.<u+201d> a spokeswoman for mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign didn<u+2019>t respond to a request for comment. for mr. de blasio, who supported fellow democrat hillary clinton <u+2019>s failed presidential bid, mr. trump<u+2019>s unexpected victory on tuesday raised questions about whether his left-leaning agenda would be stymied by a trump administration. up for re-election next year, mr. de blasio could also be an easy target of the white house, given mr. trump has called him the <u+201c>worst mayor in the u.s.<u+201d> on wednesday, mr. de blasio promised to resist stronger federal limits on immigration and any attempt from washington to impose more aggressive policing tactics on the city. he said he hoped to work with mr. trump but wouldn<u+2019>t abandon the core values that brought him to city hall. new yorkers overwhelmingly opposed mr. trump<u+2019>s candidacy, voting 4-to-1 for mrs. clinton, a former u.s. senator from new york. mr. trump won staten island, a conservative stronghold in an otherwise blue city. in midtown manhattan, thousands of people protested outside trump tower on wednesday night. city officials said they were worried about the impact of mr. trump<u+2019>s presidency. mr. trump and a republican congress will control the federal budget and a number of policies important to new yorkers, such as immigration. about 10% of the city<u+2019>s $82 billion budget comes from the federal government, with money for public housing and hospitals, homeland security and transit. <u+201c>this could have catastrophic consequences,<u+201d> said councilman ritchie torres, a bronx democrat. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m expecting draconian cuts.<u+201d> on wednesday, city officials began evaluating how much grant money the city receives from the federal government and what could be vulnerable. mr. de blasio met with senior aides and began calling congressional leaders. he gave an impromptu pep talk to his staff in the afternoon, feeding hundreds of aides pizza. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, one of mr. trump<u+2019>s closest advisers, said those worried about extremism from a trump administration should calm down. <u+201c>he<u+2019>s going to be a deal maker,<u+201d> said mr. giuliani, a republican. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s in his blood to make deals.<u+201d> several city hall officials, real-estate executives and lobbyists said they had no idea what mr. trump would do once he became president, and mr. de blasio<u+2019>s aides said the mayor also didn<u+2019>t know. the mayor was trying to reach mr. trump on the phone, an aide said. mick cornett, oklahoma city<u+2019>s republican mayor and president of the u.s. conference of mayors, said he had no contact with mr. trump or his staff. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t know of any mayors that were working with his campaign,<u+201d> mr. cornett said. <u+201c>we are optimistic we can work together.<u+201d> advocates and city officials said they were worried mr. trump would push for more aggressive policing of blacks and latinos, encourage surveillance in muslim communities and do little to help the poor. joel berg, executive director of the new york city coalition against hunger, an antipoverty group, said one of the most immediate concerns was the reauthorization of the child nutrition act, which provides funding for school meals across the country. the city serves nearly one million meals a day through the program. mr. trump<u+2019>s defenders said the concerns were unfounded and that he would look out for new york because he is from the city and owns property here. they noted he has championed paid sick-leave legislation similar to a law supported by mr. de blasio. he has also promised to help the unemployed find jobs. <u+201c>he looks at the skyline with a developer<u+2019>s eye,<u+201d> said joe borelli, a staten island republican and co-chairman of mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign. <u+201c>he understands what you have to have in a city. he cares about mass transit. he cares about roads.<u+201d> mr. de blasio said wednesday he was <u+201c>deeply disappointed<u+201d> by the election results. still, some people close to the mayor said mr. trump would be a perfect foil as mr. de blasio runs for re-election. of particular concern to mr. de blasio<u+2019>s aides was immigration. mr. giuliani said rounding up <u+201c>criminal illegal aliens<u+201d> was a primary priority of the president-elect. mr. trump has promised to strip federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities, like new york, that don<u+2019>t follow federal immigration policy. <u+201c>we have to get rid of the bad ones before we can deal with the good ones,<u+201d> mr. giuliani said of immigrants. <u+201c>he will absolutely build a wall. he knows his credibility depends on that.<u+201d> the mayor<u+2019>s aides have reached out to immigration officials to strategize. gov. andrew cuomo, a democrat, said he spoke with mr. trump on wednesday and discussed the need for infrastructure improvements in new york. on ny1, mr. cuomo said it is a bonus that mr. trump hails from new york, but <u+201c>we have to see how that translates.<u+201d> <u+201c>throughout his lifetime new york city has been very good to donald trump,<u+201d> said rep. hakeem jeffries, a democrat who represents part of brooklyn and queens. <u+201c>the hope is that donald trump as president will at least be fair to nyc.<u+201d> write to josh dawsey at joshua.dawsey@dowjones.com and mara gay at mara.gay@wsj.com
bill de blasio softens tone on donald trump  - wsj
josh dawsey mara gay