As much as Donald Trump avoids face-to-face confrontation, a bromance between POTUS and Zohran Mamdani was probably not on anyone’s bingo card.
In the end, the much-hyped meeting Friday between the two guys from Queens, NY, was full of praise and promise in front of the cameras.
In fact, a smiling Trump gave the NYC mayor-elect an affectionate pat on the arm when Mamdani was asked if he thought the ex-Apprentice host was a “fascist.” Like a scene from the NBC competition show boardroom, Trump said “you can say yes” and added “it’s easier than explaining.”
Centering on the topic of affordability, a foundation of Mamdani’s outsider campaign and landslide victory earlier this month against the White House-backed Andrew Cuomo, Trump added, “Some of his ideas are the same ideas I have.”
“He wants to see no crime, rents coming down — all things I agree with,” the 79-year old Trump said of the 34-year old Mamdani, who takes office January 1. “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him.”
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” a measured Trump continued, citing the support he himself got at the ballot box from Bernie Sanders supporters during the 2016 election. “I really think he has a chance to do a great job.”
Of course, before you put this in the alternate reality of besieged Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and potential WBD owner and Paramount CEO David Ellison cracking lobster together at the Polo Lounge, remember Mamdani and Trump are both masters of perception and the moment.
Having requested the meeting with Trump, the NYC mayor-to-be conceded little of his self-described Democratic socialist agenda, while maintaining a posture of a polite guest. Also, as Gavin Newsom can tell you, a good meeting and “atta-boy” from Trump can mean little by the time you step off the White House grounds. Trump loves a winner more than almost anything, but treating Mamdani like an adopted political son right now doesn’t mean things won’t turn ugly if he gets backlash from his base, a crazed call from Stephen Miller or time on his hands on the way down to Mar-a-Lago.
Covered on every cable newser and online, today’s media availability came after a nearly hourlong sit-down between the two (previously) sworn political enemies in which both declared “we want this city of ours that we love to do very well,” as Trump affirmed. Though it wasn’t all wine and roses: both men squirmed a bit when the topic of ICE raids and crime came up, and both weaved away from the conflict to the clear frustration of the media.
As the duo laughed and praised each other, Trump himself avoided discussion of his potential $1 billion-plus lawsuit against the BBC and reports that the Coast Guard will no longer view swastika flags as hateful. Mamdani didn’t dodge a question about his POV on Israel and the war in Gaza, but he quickly shifted his answer into an “America First” pose on the best use of U.S. tax dollars.
All of which saved face for everyone.
“I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually, and some very liberal people — he won’t surprise them because they already like him.” Trump said. “It’s an amazing thing he did,” Trump added of Mamdani’s campaign and election win.
After initial statements about their meeting, Trump and Mamdani seemed to warm up to each other. By the end, Trump, who has called the incoming mayor a “communist,” said, “I’ll be cheering for him.”
“I met with a man who was a very rational person,” the president said.
One reporter asked Trump about Elise Stefanik, the GOP candidate for governor, calling Mamdani a “jihadist.” They queried: “Do you think you’re standing next to a jihadist right now in the Oval Office?” Tossing longtime fan Stefanik under the electoral bus, Trump replied: “No, I don’t, but she’s out there campaigning. You say things sometimes in a campaign.”
For his part, Mamdani skillfully avoided criticizing the president. When one reporter asked, “Mr. Mamdani, does New York City love President Trump?”
“New York City loves a future that is affordable, and I can tell you that there were more New Yorkers who voted for President Trump in the recent presidential election because of that focus on the cost of living,” he said.
Even on the issue of crime, which Trump said was a central part of their conversation, the president gave Mamdani praise, saying that when it came to wanting a safe city, he “wants it even more than I do.”
Outside the Oval Office, on the White House driveway, dozens of reporters lined up with camera crews in case Mamdani wanted to follow up the meeting by talking to the press solo. Trump noted that the media interest in the meeting was greater than when he met with some world leaders.
“There will be topics that we disagree on. I think we’ll probably come to a conclusion, and ultimately, he’ll convince me, or I’ll convince him. You know, it’s for the good of New York,” the president said.
As the press conference and meeting ended, MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace told viewers, “Now I’ve seen everything.”
On Fox News, Brian Kilmeade said, “I think JD Vance is jealous.”
