Takeaways from Trump and Mamdani’s surprisingly cordial meeting

US President Donald Trump met with newly elected New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani at the White House. This meeting was billed as the political showdown of the year, but instead turned into a celebration of praise.

In his election victory speech, the self-described Democratic socialist mayor called Trump a “despot.”

And before Friday’s meeting, the president’s press secretary called Mamdani’s visit “the arrival of a communist in the White House.”

But standing side by side in the Oval Office, the two men struck a surprisingly conciliatory tone.

Time and time again, both men emphasized their shared interest in solving New York's affordability crisis. They smiled often, and Trump even seemed surprised when reporters asked him about the political attacks Mamdani leveled at him.

The tone of the meeting appeared to take political observers by surprise but signaled that both men understand that solving the affordability crisis is critical to their political success.

Whether the truce will last after Mamdani takes office on January 1 remains to be seen.

Until then, “I’ll be rooting for him,” Trump said.

The rapport was evident from the moment they began talking to the press.

Facing the media after the private meeting, Mamdani stood to Trump's right with his hands folded as the president sat at the Resolute desk. Their body language was relaxed, especially Trump's.

Trump not only refrained from attacking Mamdani, but also repeatedly praised him.

The president said he hoped Mamdani would become “a truly great mayor.”

The president later added that he was “confident that he can do a very good job.”

Mamdani and Trump traded political barbs throughout the mayoral election. A reporter in the room Friday reminded the two men that Trump called Mamdani a “communist” and Mamdani called the president a “despot.”

Both men deflected numerous questions about their previous statements and returned to praise.

Trump even allowed Mamdani to answer a question about whether the mayor-elect considered the president a “fascist.”

“It’s okay, you can just say yes,” Trump chimed in, lightly patting Mamdani on the arm and smiling. “It's easier than explaining.”

The closest Trump came to criticizing Mamdani's policies was when he told reporters: “His views are not widely shared.”

Perhaps most strikingly, Trump deflected a question reflecting an attack on Mamdani by one of Trump's top political allies in New York.

“Do you think you're standing next to a 'jihadist' in the Oval Office right now?” the reporter asked, quoting Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who is running for governor of New York.

“No, I don’t know,” Trump quickly responded.

“On the campaign trail, sometimes you have to say things,” Trump said of Stefanik. “She's a very capable person.”

Mamdani and Trump have something in common: They're both New Yorkers, and they both call the borough of Queens home.

Trump's childhood home is in Jamaica Estates, while Mamdani currently resides in Astoria.

According to Mamdani, the two had a “shared admiration and love” for the city.

While Trump rarely spends time at his namesake Manhattan skyscraper these days, he spoke fondly of his hometown throughout the press conference.

“This city can be incredible – if it can be spectacularly successful, I'll be very happy,” Trump said.

At some point, the president suggested that in another political life he himself would like to become mayor of New York.

Perhaps one of the reasons the two men were in the same row Friday was their shared focus on cost-of-living issues.

Trump won re-election last year after relentlessly raising the issue of high inflation that disappointed voters in 2024. As consumers increasingly worry about the cost of food, housing and other essentials, Trump has tried to convey a message of economic stability.

During his campaign in New York, Mamdani focused on the affordable housing shortage and proposed freezing rent increases on some rent-stabilized apartments, among other initiatives.

Mamdani said he and Trump discussed how to “ensure housing affordability for New Yorkers.”

Whenever he was asked about their differing views, the mayor-elect brought the conversation back to that topic.

Faced with one question about their differing views on achieving peace in the Middle East, Mamdani responded that Trump voters had expressed to him a desire to “end forever wars” and for leaders to address the “cost of living crisis.”

They also seemed to find common ground on issues of law enforcement and immigration. Mamdani said he and Trump discussed federal immigration enforcement operations in New York, and he conveyed residents' concerns about how they were being carried out.

But Trump said they discussed crime more than immigration.

“He doesn't want to see crime, and I don't want to see crime,” the president said. He had “very little doubt” that the two would not get along on this issue.

Trump even said he would feel safe living in New York under Mamdani.

The warm relationship on display Friday could complicate Republican efforts to use the self-described democratic socialist as a bogeyman in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, when control of the U.S. Congress is at risk.

In elections earlier this month, Republicans struggled and Democrats won key races. It is unclear whether this trend will continue.

According to US news site Axios, Republicans had plans to make Mamdani the face of the Democratic Party. They included portraying him as anti-police, anti-capitalist and anti-Israel to give Republicans an advantage in key races.

But the friendliness of the Oval Office could undermine that strategy.

Praising Mamdani, the president said he believed the new mayor would “surprise some conservative people.”