Zohran Mamdani’s high-stakes meeting with Donald Trump Friday turned into an unexpected White House lovefest – with the president repeatedly lauding the democratic socialist mayor-elect.
A sitting Trump, with Mamdani standing by his side behind the Oval Office’s desk, heaped praise on the Democrat, jovially touching his arm, helping him dodge tough questions — and even predicting that the far-left pol will make New York City great again.
“I think he wants to make it greater than ever before,” Trump told reporters. “And if he can, we’ll be out there cheering. I’ll be cheering for him.”
Mamdani notably was more measured in his own praise of Trump, noting that the president’s better-than-expected showing in New York City during 2024’s presidential election came because of his own focus on kitchen table issues relating to affordability.
He said their roughly 30-minute chat focused on affordability, rather than their many differences.
“I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views, and what I really appreciate about the President is the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers,” he said.
Trump agreed.
“We have one thing in common. We want this city of ours that we love to do very well,” Trump said as the two began fielding questions following the closed-door sit-down.
The mayor-elect faced several potentially awkward questions about his past statements calling Trump, among other things, a “despot.”
But a seemingly impressed Trump swooped in several times to give Mamdani an out.
“I’ve been called much worse than a despot, so it’s not that insulting,” Trump joked.
Trump, who had spent months deriding Mamdani as “my little Communist” and threatening to cut off federal funding for the city, even backed off his threat to send the National Guard to New York City.
The president said Mamdani knows the streets need to be “safe.”
“We discussed crime, and he doesn’t want to see crime, and I don’t want to see crime, and I have very little doubt that we’re not going to get along on that issue,” he said.
