Trump and Mamdani go from adversaries to allies after meeting

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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump met Friday with the man who proudly proclaimed himself “Donald Trump's worst nightmare” but appeared to find otherwise.

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The Republican president and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani were warm and friendly, repeatedly reiterating their shared goals of helping Trump's hometown rather than their bitter differences.

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Trump, who has in the past called Mamdani a “100% communist lunatic” and a “total lunatic,” has spoken openly about how impressed he is by the man calling his administration “authoritarian.”

“I actually think he's going to surprise some conservative people,” Trump said of the democratic socialist as Mamdani stood next to him in the Oval Office.

The meeting provided political opportunities for both men. For Mamdani, the sit-down gave the state lawmaker, who until recently was relatively unknown, a chance to come face to face with the most powerful man in the world.

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It was a significant chance for Trump to talk about affordability at a time when he is under increasing political pressure to demonstrate that he is addressing voters' concerns about the cost of living.

Until now, these people have been political adversaries who have stimulated their supporters by challenging each other, and it is unclear how these supporters will react to their warm welcome and complimentary words.

“We will help him make everyone's dream come true – to have a strong and very safe New York,” the president said.

“What I really appreciate about the president is that our meeting focused not on areas of disagreement, of which there are many, but on the common goal that we have in serving the people of New York,” Mamdani said.

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“I will stand up for you”

Mamdani and Trump said they discussed housing affordability and the cost of groceries and utilities as Mamdani successfully used frustration over inflation to get elected, as the president did in the 2024 election.

“Some of his ideas actually coincide with my ideas,” the president said of Mamdani regarding inflation issues.

The president brushed off Mamdani's criticism of him over his administration's deportation raids and allegations that Trump acted like a despot. Instead, Trump said that the responsibility of holding a leadership position in government forces a person to change, and that this was the case with him.

At times he even seemed to defend Mamdani, speaking on his behalf on several occasions. For example, when reporters asked Mamdani to clarify his past statements saying he believed the president acted like a fascist, Trump said, “I've been called much worse than a despot.”

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When a reporter asked if Mamdani stood by his comments about Trump being a fascist, Trump interjected before the mayor-elect could fully answer the question.

“It's okay. You can just say yes. Okay?” Trump said. “It's easier. It's easier than explaining. I don't mind.”

Trump intervened again when a reporter asked Mamdani why he flew to Washington instead of taking transportation that uses less fossil fuels.

“I will support you,” Trump said.

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All about accessibility

Mamdani, who takes office in January, said he was seeking a meeting with Trump to discuss ways to make New York more affordable. Trump said he might be willing to help him, although he also falsely called Mamdani a “communist” and threatened to withdraw federal funds from the city.

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But Trump didn't throw it at the mayor on Friday. He acknowledged that he said he was prepared to cut off funding or make it difficult for New York to access federal resources if the two couldn't “get along.”

But the president walked back those threats, saying: “We don't want that to happen. I don't think that's going to happen.”

Trump played a major role in this year's mayoral race, and on the eve of the election he endorsed independent candidate and former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, predicting that the city has “ZERO chance of success or even survival” if Mamdani wins. He also questioned the citizenship of Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a naturalized American citizen after graduating from college, and said he would arrest him if he followed through on threats not to cooperate with immigration agents in the city.

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Mamdani fended off Cuomo's challenge, calling him a “puppet” of the president and vowing to be “the mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump and actually succeed.” During one of the primary debates, he said: “I am Donald Trump's worst nightmare as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for what I believe in.”

The president, who has long used political opponents to fire up his supporters, predicted that Mamdani “will prove to be one of the best things that has ever happened to our great Republican Party.” As Mamdani upended the Democratic establishment by defeating Cuomo and his far-left progressive policies fueled divisions, Trump repeatedly named Mamdani as the face of the Democratic Party.

Fireworks expected at Oval Office meeting

The president has had several dramatic public clashes in the Oval Office this year, including a notoriously heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in March. In May, Trump dimmed the lights during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and played a four-minute video that widely rejected claims that South Africa brutally persecuted white Afrikaner farmers in the country.

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A senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions, said Trump had not given much thought to scheduling a meeting with the new mayor but said Trump's threats to block the flow of federal dollars to New York remained on the table.

On Thursday, Mamdani said he was not concerned that the president would potentially try to use the meeting to publicly embarrass him and said he saw it as a chance to prove a point, even while acknowledging “a lot of differences with the president.”

Instead, both men avoided public confrontation by issuing a series of surprisingly calm and cordial comments to reporters.

Mamdani, who lives in Queens, where Trump grew up, has been as ruthless as Trump as a candidate. During his campaign, he appeared to borrow from Trump's playbook when, during a televised debate with Cuomo, he noted that one of the women who had accused the former governor of sexual harassment was in the room. Cuomo denies wrongdoing.

But tensions eased on Friday as Trump appeared sympathetic to Mamdani's policies aimed at building more housing.

“People would be shocked, but I want to see the same thing,” the president said.

— Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Josh Boak in Washington and Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.

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