Trump, Mamdani make love — not war

A high-stakes White House meeting between President Donald Trump and mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani turned into a lovefest — with both men heaping populist praise on each other for pursuing ways to address the cost of living.

Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, needed to avoid the mercurial Republican president using the might of the federal government to cut New York City’s aid or send in the National Guard. Trump allies wanted the president to show he would prevent the Big Apple from being bankrupted by socialism.

But Mamdani appeared — at least for the time being — to neutralize those threats during the closed-door tête-à-tête by sticking to a strategy of staying laser-focused on issues of affordability, according to a top aide who sat in on the talk. After they emerged from the private meeting, Trump even told reporters that Mamdani had played up their unlikely political similarities: Mamdani “said a lot of my voters actually voted for him,” said the evidently pleased president. Mamdani noted that he often spoke with those voters — a point that elicited a grin from the president sitting behind the Resolute Desk.

The meeting was dominated by presidential compliments for Mamdani’s upstart campaign, a focus on blue-collar people and Trump’s interest in helping enact aspects of the new mayor’s agenda, like an expansion of much-needed housing.

“We had some interesting conversation, and some of his ideas really are the same ideas I have,” Trump said. “The new word is affordability.”

The meeting between two leading populist avatars operating from differing ends of the political spectrum arrived as affordability has become a crucial watchword for campaigns. The president, struggling to get costs down, has begrudgingly returned to focusing on pocketbook concerns after his popularity began to suffer. Mamdani, who is viewed with deep skepticism by New York City’s powerful business leaders, has tried to demonstrate he will not upend an economy that is heavily reliant on real estate and Wall Street.

Yet the two New Yorkers share similarities. Both men launched their electoral careers amid low expectations from establishment party leaders. They have an instinctive feel for their political bases and the concerns of their ardent supporters. And they understand how to leverage social media in a digital campaign age.

Trump, though, appeared to go beyond simply agreeing with the mayor on broad issues. He was practically smitten by the Queens state assemblymember, who was a virtual unknown a year ago.

“We had a meeting today that actually surprised me,” Trump told reporters during the extraordinary public portion of the get together.

Indeed, the interaction between Mamdani and the voluble president shocked the political world.

It was a surreal scene: The president, who belittled Mamdani as “my little communist,” and the incoming New York City mayor, who blasted Trump in his election night victory speech as a fascist, smiling together, occasionally patting each other on the elbow.

"I think this mayor is going to be doing some things that are really great,” Trump said.

The president marveled at the interest, too, musing at one point, “The press has eaten this thing up. For some reason the press has found this to be a very interesting meeting. The biggest people from all over the world come here, nobody cares.”

Mamdani insisted they both shared the goal of addressing the cost of living to help “working class people” in a deeply expensive city.

“What we’re looking to do is put those people right back at the heart of our politics,” he said.

Papering over their deep differences on crime, immigration and Israel underscored the political imperative to address rising costs. Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon told POLITICO Magazine this month that Republicans underestimate Mamdani at their peril and that the mayor-elect’s victory should be a “wake-up call.”

One Trump administration official, who requested anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking, said the meeting was “more normal than not” given the interest in New York City’s success.

“I think making this about who charmed who is a mistake,” the official said. “One on one the president is a reasonable guy who loves the city. Frankly they both can be charming.”

New York officials, including Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, are trying to stave off Trump’s incursion into the Empire State’s affairs. His threats to deploy the National Guard have led to extensive table-top exercises gaming out possible scenarios. Hochul has dropped her pledge to not raise taxes next year, citing uncertainty in Washington.

The meeting on Friday may only temporarily set those concerns aside. Trump said the city, where he built on his family’s business empire, is at a “turning point.”

“It can go great, or another direction, I think you have a chance to make it great,” Trump said.

A person close to Mamdani’s transition team said the strategy going into the meeting was straightforward: Open up a line of communication with the president given the large role the federal government plays in city affairs, focus on issues of affordability and areas of shared agreement and emphasize the mayor-elect’s priorities.

Elle Bisgaard-Church, Mamdani’s newly appointed chief of staff and one of his closest aides, said the mayor-elect also made clear his concerns with federal immigration enforcement tactics.

“We certainly were clear about our disagreements in the room,” she said during an interview with NY1. “And the mayor-elect made clear that we uphold sanctuary laws in our city and all immigrants will be safe in our city.”

“We also made very clear that we feel there has been inhumane raids just this week,” she added, while noting that Mamdani and Trump agreed on focusing immigration enforcement on individuals who have committed violent crimes.

New York Democrats relished moments, including Trump’s encouragement of the mayor-elect — “Okay, you can say it” — when Mamdani was asked if he still believes the president is a fascist.

“Pretty sure Zohran just charmed Donald Trump into agreeing that he’s a fascist,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a former mayoral candidate who cross-endorsed Mamdani in the June Democratic primary.

And Trump surprisingly came to the defense of Mamdani at points, insisting that the city’s first Muslim mayor is not a “jihadist” as Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik has labeled him. Stefanik is running for governor next year.

“I met with a man who’s a very rational person,” Trump said.

Stefanik, who has rarely broken with the president, responded on X, “We all want NYC to succeed. But we will have to agree to disagree on this one.”

Ben Johansen contributed to this report.