I definitely did not see this coming. When it was announced yesterday that Zohran Mamdani would be meeting with President Trump at the White House today, the image that came to mind was something like Ukrainian President Zelensky's first visit which started with some shouting and ended with Zelensky being kicked out.
That's not at all how it went today. On the contrary, this appeared to be a real love fest. President Trump described himself as surprised by what Mamdani had to say and praised him repeatedly as someone who had a chance to make New York better.
“I feel very confident that he can do a good job,” Mr. Trump said Friday afternoon in the Oval Office. “I think he is going to surprise some conservative people actually.”
In a striking turnabout, Mr. Trump and Mr. Mamdani, who had lobbed labels like “communist” and “despot” at one another during a mayoral campaign filled with vitriol, nodded when the other spoke and smiled at each other supportively. But they also sidestepped questions that might have highlighted their most polarizing positions...
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” Mr. Trump said about Mr. Mamdani, New York’s first Muslim mayor. While this public posture is quite a change for the president, Mr. Trump has privately complimented Mr. Mamdani in recent weeks.
Here's how well this meeting went for Mamdani. A reporter asked if he still believed Trump was a fascist and as Mamdani started to answer, Trump just waived him off and told him to just say yes.
Trump is so funny 😭😭😭
— George (@BehizyTweets) November 21, 2025
The reporter asked Mamdani if he still stands by his comment saying Trump is a fascist, and before Mamdani could answer, Trump said, "That's okay, you can just say yes... It's easier than explaining it." pic.twitter.com/h3imF08DkR
Trump is funny but he obviously also can go pretty hard when people attack him. In this case he just didn't seem to care. Whatever Mamdani said to him really worked.
There was an expectation prior to this meeting that New York would be the next city where Trump might send in the National Guard shortly after Mamdani takes office in January, but now it's looking like Trump is looking to help Mamdani out. Trump said they talked a lot about crime in the city and both he and Mamdani agree that no matter what else they do on affordability, none of it will matter if people don't feel safe. So it sounded like Trump's ICE agents will still be taking criminal illegal aliens off the streets. How that works with Mamdani's opposition to ICE and to Trump is anybody's guess.
Politically, this is probably smart for both of them. Mamdani's voters don't like Trump but Mamdani needed to show enough respect that Trump didn't become his enemy. Also, there's a real possibility a lot of wealthy New Yorkers were thinking about leaving the city because of Mamdani so Trump's response to a question about that really may have helped calm some nerves.
Asked if he would feel comfortable living in New York City, Trump said, “Yeah I would – I really would – especially after the meeting, absolutely.”
Pressed on what changed his mind, Trump said, “We agree on a lot more than I really thought.”
In exchange, Mamdani had to grit his teeth and be seen being civil with Trump. That could cost him with some of the resistance nuts in the party's base but, not unlike Mayor Bowser in DC who had positive things to say about Trump's anti-crime surge in her city, it was a smart move politically.
Trump's voters definitely don't like Mamdani either but Trump is not wrong about his skills as a politician and has been quick (and smart) to adopt Mamdani's winning focus on affordability. He probably wants to be seen as someone who agrees with that message now, not someone who disregards it. So there is an upside for him, especially with persuadable moderate voters for whom affordability really is the big issue.
So, yeah, I can see how this outcome sort of makes sense in hindsight but it definitely was not on my bingo card.
Here's the full meeting with the media in the Oval Office. Trump couldn't be more chummy and Mamdani looks like he's holding his breath.
President Trump Meets with Zohran Mamdani, Mayor-Elect, New York City https://t.co/Y0I0lGYvJp
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 21, 2025
Update:
POTUS has a lot of good moments but this is an all-timer https://t.co/Ge0vYEiJhP
— JD Vance (@JDVance) November 21, 2025
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