Chicago’s Democratic Mayor–elect Lori Lightfoot is working hard to get off on the right foot during as she prepares to take on leadership of the city by building relationships with the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, Lightfoot was in Washington to meet with Ivanka Trump, given that President Donald Trump has voiced discontent with her city, particularly regarding violent crime and once even threatening to send in federal agents to control it.
Lightfoot offered insight into her plans to get address multiple issues in Chicago, starting with a “blank slate” and lending an olive branch of sorts to the Trump administration to work in harmony with her, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
“Ivanka Trump clearly knows a lot about Chicago. She referenced a couple of local institutions that are doing I think, great work,” Lightfoot said to reporters from Chicago news outlets.
Lightfoot was adamant about mending the city’s relationship with Trump and that includes city officials with whom he often does not see eye-to-eye. She believes it’s crucial to do so they can get the help and resources the city needs.
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“Obviously his values are not my values on a range of different issues,” Lightfoot said.
“But as I said before, Chicago has a lot of great needs. And we should be getting more in federal resources than we’ve gotten historically and if there’s a way for us to partner on issues…that we agree upon, like infrastructure, like making sure that we’ve got criminal justice reform, then I’m going to be open to that conversation. I’m not going to compromise my values, but I’m open to it.”
Lightfoot also met with top House Democrats. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she said gave her some helpful tips.
“We talked a lot about the need to be present with constituents and to really be providing constituent resources. So you know those are the kinds of things that I get. And again I think she understands Chicago … People want to know who their mayor is, they want to feel like there’s a personal connection and that the mayor is present and visible in communities. And I believe that wholeheartedly. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
On Wednesday, Lightfoot was scheduled to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. She is set to be sworn in on May 20 at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena.