After months of trading insults, U.S. President Donald Trump and incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani smiled at each other, exchanged pleasantries and promised to work together to combat crime and affordability in the nation’s largest city in an unexpectedly friendly meeting at the White House on Friday.
The political opposites, a Republican billionaire and a young Democratic socialist, have clashed over everything from immigration to economic policy.
But it was clear that the two forged a good relationship in their first meeting.
Mamdani, a 34-year-old state lawmaker, stood next to Trump’s desk as the 79-year-old president smiled at him and gave him a warm pat on the arm, having recently falsely caricatured Mamdani as an anti-Semitic communist, among other taunts.
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said after letting reporters and cameras into the Oval Office at the end of a private meeting with the mayor-elect.
“We have one thing in common: we want this city of ours that we love to do very well.”
The meeting in the Oval Office, where Trump has at times embarrassed or reprimanded visiting heads of state, far exceeded Trump’s prediction on Friday that it would be “pretty cordial.”
The men, two different generations of New Yorkers, announced nothing new in politics except what appeared to be the launch of an unexpected professional friendship that would change politics.
“What I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting we had focused not on points of disagreement, of which there are many, but also focused on the shared purpose we have in serving New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.
Only 26 percent of Americans say Trump is doing a good job managing the cost of living, according to a study. Reuters/Ipsos survey.
Meanwhile, Mamdani, who promised to freeze rent, buses and free childcare, was one of many Democratic victors across the country in elections earlier this month.
It was one of the most disheartening nights suffered by Republicans this year, and Trump was not expected to enjoy the reminder through a visit from one of the most prominent Democratic winners.
However, the president, who found fame as a real estate developer in New York, was encouraged by Mamdani’s call for more housing in the city he will govern from January 1.
Trump was happy to hear that a portion of the New Yorkers who voted for him in last year’s presidential election voted for Mamdani.
“When we talk to voters who voted for President Trump, we hear them talk about the cost of living,” Mamdani said.
Trump, who says he is paying increasing attention to affordability and inflation, said this made sense to him.
“Some of his ideas are the same ones I have,” Trump explained. “The better he does, the happier I am.”
Mamdani and Trump laugh at past insults
As Mamdani surged in the polls toward victory on November 4, Trump threatened to withdraw federal funding from New York City. Mamdani has regularly criticized Trump’s promise to step up federal immigration enforcement efforts in a city where four in 10 residents were foreign-born.
In the weeks before their meeting, Trump had called Mamdani a “radical left-wing lunatic,” a communist, and “a Jew-hater.”
Mamdani has embraced Nordic-style democratic socialism, not communism.
While he is a staunch critic of Israel, he has received endorsements from prominent Jewish politicians, is adding Jewish staff to his new administration, notably New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and has repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism.
And yet, less than an hour after meeting in person for the first time, Trump repeatedly came to Mamdani’s aid to defend himself against direct questions from the press.
The couple laughed at some of their stingiest insults as reporters reminded them of what they had said about each other.
“I’ve been called things much worse than a despot,” Trump said with a smile. “So it’s not that insulting, but I think he’ll change his mind when we start working together.”
Mamdani was asked if he still considered Trump a fascist. “It’s okay, you can just say ‘yes,’” Trump interjected, exchanging smiles with Mamdani and patting her arm twice. “It’s easier than explaining it.”
Trump defends Mamdani as “a very rational person”
Trump also defended Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and will be New York City’s first Muslim mayor, from some of the Islamophobic insults he has faced.
A reporter asked Trump if he thought he had “a jihadist” on his side.
“No, I don’t know,” Trump said as Mamdani looked on. “I met a man who is a very rational person.”
Some politicians and commentators were taken aback by the televised friendliness. At least a couple of Republicans said they still didn’t trust Mamdani, despite Trump’s new endorsement.
“What the hell just happened?” U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., wrote on social media, sharing a clip of one of the friendly moments between Trump and Mamdani at the meeting.
Trump had repeatedly urged New Yorkers not to vote for Mamdani, warning that it would be a disaster for a city that conservative media already describes as a crime-ridden hellhole, despite being among the safest big cities in the country.
After his first term as president, Trump left Manhattan to become a resident of Florida.
A reporter asked Trump if he would consider returning to his hometown with Mamdani at the helm.
“Yes, I would,” Trump said, “especially after the meeting.”
Source link
