WASHINGTON

US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries signaled no immediate endorsement Monday for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, saying more talks were planned.

"At the meeting on Friday, we agreed to reconvene with other members of the (New York) delegation and high-level community leaders in Brooklyn upon his return to the country" from Uganda, Jeffries told reporters when asked whether he is prepared to endorse Mamdani after the Brooklyn meeting.

Jeffries, a New York Democrat, has not yet endorsed Mamdani due to the mayoral candidate's criticisms of Israel. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, also of New York, has similarly stopped short of endorsing the self-described democratic socialist. Schumer also plans to meet separately with Mamdani.

Asked about the message that his lack of endorsement sends to Democratic voters in his home state, Jeffries said they had a "constructive and a candid and a community centered" meeting that lasted for over an hour on Friday.

"We agreed at that meeting to reconvene upon his return, back into the country," he repeated.

Mamdani has quickly become a rising star among progressive Democrats after he won New York City's mayoral Democratic primary in June, putting him on track to become the first Muslim and first South Asian to lead the US's largest city.