New Delhi: They expected a bloodbath. They got a praise fest.
The highly anticipated White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani panned out not at all like anyone had imagined it.
Though Trump did predict things would be “civil”, what reporters, and the rest of the world saw at the White House Friday was two New Yorkers who have used the choicest of words to attack each other, striking a surprisingly conciliatory tone.
The US President was effusive in his praise for the young Mamdani, the latter, though guarded, consistently emphasised his intentions to work with the Trump administration, as the two New Yorkers stressed on their shared goal of addressing NYC’s affordability crisis.
The two deftly skirted the uncomfortable questions, especially about the opinions they have voiced of each other, with Trump often coming to Mamdani’s defence.
This meeting comes at a time when Trump himself, according to a Reuters report, has admitted that his poll ratings are down. A Wall Street Journal report says the Trump 2.0 administration is exploring ways to cut costs for the average consumer, focusing on high cost of living. Moreover, the Epstein scandal has taken centre stage again.
As Mamdani entered the White House, the media buzzed with anticipation outside. At one point, it was not certain whether the two would speak to reporters. But the cameras soon panned to the Oval Office. And what followed was around half an hour of incredible news television.
Trump was seated at the Resolute Desk, with Mamdani standing by his side.
‘A great meeting’
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” the US President said, referring to their interaction as “a great meeting — a really good, a very productive meeting”.
“We have one thing in common: We want this city of ours that we love to do very well. And I want to congratulate the mayor,” he said, occasionally tapping the mayor-elect on the arm.
Trump was full of praise for Mamdani’s mayoral run, assuring the latter full support from the White House.
“He really ran an incredible race against a lot of smart people. Starting with the early primaries against some very tough people, very smart people, and he beat them and beat them easily. And I congratulated him. And we talked about some things, and very strong in common, like housing and getting housing built. Food and prices, and the price of oil is coming way down.”
Mamdani on his part too called it a “productive meeting” focused on “a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City’.
He reiterated that his goal would be to deliver affordability to New Yorkers. “We spoke about rent. We spoke about groceries. We spoke about utilities. We spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out, and I appreciated the time with the president.”
‘A lot of my voters actually voted for him’
To a reporter’s question on whether an invite to the White House would be extended to the Lebanese president at any point, Trump replied in the affirmative: “Absolutely. And if the mayor would like to be here for that meeting — because I know he feels very strongly. I think you feel very, very strongly about peace in the Middle East.”
Mamdani responded in strong agreement, going on to add that when he spoke to New Yorkers who voted for Trump last year, they gave them “two major reasons” for doing so: “One was that they want an end to forever wars — they wanted an end to the taxpayers’ dollars we had funding violations of human rights, and they wanted to address the cost-of-living crisis.”
At this point, Trump mentioned: “He said a lot of my voters actually voted for him.”
“One in 10,” Mamdani said. “And I’m okay with that,” said the US President.
Asked if he’d be comfortable living in New York City under a Mamdani administration, Trump said: “Yes, I would — especially after the meeting. Absolutely.”
Asked to elaborate, the US President said: “We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help him do a great job. You know, he may have different views, but in many ways, you know—we were discussing, when Bernie Sanders was out of the race, I picked up a lot of his votes, and people had no idea, because he was strong on not getting ripped off in trade and lots of the things that I practiced, and been very successful on.”
Mamdani repeatedly pushed with his affordability agenda, of people being tired of their “tax dollars funding endless wars” and focusing on cost of living.
At one point, Trump once again put in an effusive word of praise: “By the way, being the mayor of New York City is a big deal. I always said, you know, one of the things I would have loved to be some day is the mayor of New York City. Being the mayor of New York — and especially now, because I think you’re really at a turning point, one way or the other. It could go great, or it can go in a different direction, and I think you really have a chance to make it great.”
He also expressed his approval for Mamdani retaining New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who he described as a “good friend of some of the people in my family, of Ivanka, and they say she’s really good and competent”.
‘Fascist’, ‘Jihadist’, ICE
The sticky questions the duo faced were mostly about the choice words they have previously used against each other. Other topics were US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Gaza, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.
Asked why he feels Mamdani is a “communist” and whether he would do anything to stop the mayor-elect from arresting Netanyahu if he visits New York, Trump said: “Well, we didn’t discuss your second part of the question. And on your first part, he’s got views out there, but who knows. I mean, we’re going to see what works. He’s going to change also. We all change.”
“I think he’s going to surprise some conservative people, actually. And some very liberal people, he won’t surprise them, because they already like him,” Trump went on to add.
Asked if he was planning to retract any of his remarks on the US President, like calling him a “despot who betrayed the country”, Mamdani said: “I think we are very clear about our positions and our views. And 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”.
Trump too put a word in. “I’ve been called much worse than a despot. It’s not that insulting. Maybe — I think he’ll change his mind after we get to working together.”
Another reporter, while pointing out that Republican Elise Stefanik had called Mamdani a “jihadist”, asked the US President: “Do you think you’re standing next to a jihadist right now in the Oval Office?”
Pat came the reply. “No, I don’t. But she’s out there campaigning. You know, you say things sometimes in a campaign…I think I met with a…I’ve met with a man who is a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see…really wants to see New York be great again.”
Asked how both of them would reconcile their differences over ICE, with Mamdani having called ICE a “rogue government entity”, Trump said: “I think we’re going to work them out. And I think that, if we have known murderers and known drug dealers and some very bad people, you know, we want to get them out, and the mayor wants to have peace.”
On question about Mamdani having “accused the US government of committing genocide in Gaza”, the NYC mayor-elect was quick to say: ‘I have spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide, and I have spoken about our government funding it. And I shared with the president in our meeting about the concern that many New Yorkers have of wanting their tax dollars to go toward the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to afford basic dignity.”
The particular question on Mamdani having called Trump a “fascist” got the most interesting response, as Trump answered for him: “That’s OK. You can just say it. That’s easier. It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”
When his reaction was sought on the US House of Representatives (86 Democrats in support) passing a bipartisan resolution condemning the “horrors of socialism”, Mamdani said: ‘I have to be honest with you, I focus very little on resolutions. Frankly, I’ve been focusing…”
“It’s against socialism,” said the reporter, interrupting.
Which is when Mamdani deftly pivoted back to affordability. “I understand. I think that the focus is on the work at hand. I can tell you, I am someone who is a democratic socialist, I have been very open about that. And I know that there might be differences about ideology, but the place of agreement is the work that needs to be done to make New York City affordable. That’s what I look forward to.”
‘The press has eaten this thing up’
Another lighter moment at the press conference was Trump’s remarks on the buzz about the Oval Office meeting. “The press has eaten this thing up. You know I’ve had a lot of meetings with the heads of major countries but nobody cared…for some reason, the press has found this to be a very interesting meeting.”
Whether this Trump-Mamdani camaraderie holds, is something to watch out for in the future.