President Donald Trump met Friday with the man who once boasted he would be “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare,” but the encounter turned out to be far more amicable than anticipated.
Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani appeared warm and cooperative, repeatedly highlighting their shared interest in improving New York City rather than dwelling on their fiery political clashes.
Trump — who previously labeled Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and a “total nut job” — spoke admiringly of the mayor-elect, who had once described Trump’s administration as “authoritarian.”
“I think he’s going to surprise some conservative people,” Trump said of the democratic socialist as they stood together in the Oval Office.
For both men, the meeting offered political advantages: Mamdani, a relatively little-known state lawmaker until recently, got the chance to meet publicly with the president, while Trump was able to focus attention on affordability issues amid growing pressure to show he’s responding to rising costs.
Until now, the two had energized their supporters by attacking each other, and it remains unclear how those backers will respond to the cordial tone of the meeting.
“We’re going to be helping him create a strong and very safe New York,” Trump said.
“What I appreciated about the president today is that we focused not on our many disagreements but on the mission we share in serving New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.
‘I’ll defend you’
Both men said their conversation centered on housing costs, grocery prices, and utility bills. Each used public frustration with inflation to win office — Mamdani in New York’s mayoral race and Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
“Some of his ideas are really the same as mine,” Trump said of Mamdani’s proposals to ease inflation.
Trump brushed aside Mamdani’s past criticisms regarding deportation raids and claims that he was governing like a despot. The president said leadership changes people — including himself.
At several moments, Trump even stepped in to protect Mamdani. When reporters asked the mayor-elect if he still believed Trump behaved like a fascist, Trump cut in before Mamdani could answer.
“That’s OK, you can just say yes,” Trump said. “It’s easier. I don’t mind.”
When a reporter asked why Mamdani flew to Washington instead of taking a more climate-friendly mode of travel, Trump again interjected: “I’ll stick up for you.”
A meeting centered on affordability
Mamdani, who assumes office in January, said he requested the White House meeting to discuss solutions to New York’s affordability crisis. While Trump has previously — and falsely — branded Mamdani a communist and threatened to block federal money from the city, he did not repeat those attacks on Friday.
Trump admitted he had considered withholding federal funds if the two failed to “get along,” but said those threats faded during their discussion.
“We don’t want that to happen. I don’t think it’s going to happen,” he said.
Mamdani’s incoming chief of staff, Elle Bisgaard-Church, later told NY1 that while the two leaders clearly disagree on several issues, they found shared ground on matters like public safety.
“We talked about our mutual goal of a safe city where everyone can move around comfortably,” she said. “There have been unfair labels thrown around, but we focused on areas where we can cooperate to make the city more affordable.”
Trump overshadowed the mayoral race this year. On the night before the election, he endorsed independent candidate and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and predicted New York had “ZERO chance” of succeeding if Mamdani won. Trump also questioned Mamdani’s citizenship — he was born in Uganda and later became a naturalized American — and threatened to have him arrested if he refused to work with immigration agents.
Mamdani defeated Cuomo by portraying him as Trump’s “puppet” and campaigned on being “a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump and deliver for New Yorkers.” During the primary, he declared, “I am Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”
Yet on Friday, Trump claimed Mamdani “will prove to be one of the best things ever to happen to our great Republican Party.” Trump has repeatedly cast Mamdani as emblematic of the Democratic Party’s direction, especially after Mamdani defeated Cuomo and stirred conflict within the party’s progressive wing.
Expected fireworks never materialized
Trump has had contentious Oval Office moments in the past — including a heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in March and another meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in which he played a controversial video portraying Afrikaners as victims of violent persecution.
According to a senior administration official, Trump did not devote much planning to the meeting with Mamdani, though threats of blocking federal funds to New York remain in play.
Mamdani said Thursday he wasn’t worried about being publicly embarrassed, calling the meeting an opportunity to make his case despite “many disagreements with the president.”
Instead, the two presented a subdued, unusually friendly front.
Mamdani, a Queens resident — like Trump — has shown a sharp political edge of his own. In a debate with Cuomo, he called attention to the presence of one of Cuomo’s sexual harassment accusers — a move reminiscent of Trump’s own confrontational campaign tactics. Cuomo denies the allegations.
Still, tensions were noticeably absent Friday, and Trump even expressed support for Mamdani’s desire to expand housing.
“People would be shocked, but I want the same thing,” Trump said.
