Trump Admits to Being Charmed by Mamdani in First Meeting

After months of public sparring, President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani met face-to-face for the first time on Friday, and it appeared to go far more cordially than supporters of both men likely expected.

After a brief meeting on Friday afternoon, reporters were brought into the Oval Office to find Trump seated at his desk and Mamdani standing at his side, the two smiling warmly as they talked about a productive meeting. While they both acknowledged deep policy differences, they both stressed that they had found common areas of agreement in areas like public safety and affordability, including goals of building more housing in New York City and addressing crime better.

“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump said. “A big help.”

“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," Mamdani said. "And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of eight and half million people who are currently struggling under a cost-of-living crisis.”

It was a striking moment of civility among two political figures who had had few nice things to say about each other in recent months. In one exchange, after a reporter asked Mamdani whether he stood by his statement that Trump is a fascist, the President quickly interjected to diffuse the tension: "That's ok, you can just say yes," he said, laughing and patting the mayor-elect on the elbow. "It's easier than explaining."

“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said. When asked if he’d be comfortable living once again in New York City run by Mamdani, Trump answered that he would after having gotten to spend time with the mayor-elect on Friday: “Absolutely.”

“I think he’s going to surprise some conservative people, actually,” Trump said.

Mamdani, a state assemblymember, shook up the Democratic establishment when he toppled former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the primary over the summer and bested him again in the general election earlier this month. The 34-year-old Democratic socialist hasn’t shied away from blasting Trump, particularly over the President’s hardline immigration policies. During the campaign, he vowed that he would be “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare” and would “Trump-proof” New York City.

Trump, meanwhile, has made repeated public attacks against Mamdani, falsely labeling him “a 100% Communist lunatic.” When asked how he responded to Mamdani’s promise to push back against immigration enforcement agents in the city, Trump replied, “We’ll have to arrest him.” The threat sparked outrage from Mamdani, who called it “an attack on our democracy” and “intimidation.”

The night before the general election, Trump endorsed Mamdani’s main opponent in the race, Cuomo. The President said that, if Mamdani won, he would consider withholding some federal funds from New York City.

But despite the two politicians’ open opposition toward one another, Mamdani revealed earlier this week that his team had asked Trump for a meeting. It’s “customary,” he told reporters on Thursday, for the mayor-elect of New York City to meet with the President “given the mutual reliance.”

“My team reached out because of a commitment that I made to New Yorkers that I would be willing to meet with anyone and everyone, so long as it was to the benefit of the 8.5 million people who call the city home and their struggle to afford the most expensive city in the United States of America,” he told MS NOW on Wednesday.

Trump had indicated that he was open to meeting with the incoming mayor, telling reporters on Sunday, “We want to see everything work out well for New York.” On Wednesday evening, he confirmed that he had agreed to meet later in the week, while again calling Mamdani a “communist.”

Although Mamdani did not hold back against the President during his campaign, he has been clear that affordability was a priority that he and Trump shared.

“Donald Trump ran on three promises. He ran on creating the single largest deportation force in American history; he ran on going after his political enemies; and he ran on lowering the cost of living,” Mamdani said in the last debate with his opponents Cuomo and the Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa on Oct. 22. “If he wants to talk to me about the third piece of that agenda, I will always be ready and willing.”

Several times during their Oval Office meeting, Mamdani referred to their meeting of minds on the cost-of-living crisis. 

“I can tell you that there were more New Yorkers who voted for President Trump in the most recent presidential election because of that focus on cost of living,” he said, “and I’m looking forward to working together to deliver on that affordability agenda.”

Trump added that some of his own supporters voted for Mamdani for this reason: “Some of his ideas are the same ideas I have,” said the President.

Although the two acknowledged that they would likely disagree strongly on other parts of Trump’s agenda, the President still went to bat for Mamdani—emphasizing that he was “rational” and that the inflammatory words of some of his fellow Republicans were incorrect.

“I met with a man who is a very rational person. I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again. I think he wants to make it greater than ever before.”

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