When New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was ‘briefed’ about US military’s capture of Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela, critics laughed off and advised Mamdani to get down from the ‘high horse’ as he is just the NYC mayor. But as it turns out, Mamdani and President Donald Trump have been texting each other back and forth recently, Axios reported, citing two sources. The texting started soon after Trump and Mamdani exchanged numbers during their November meeting. It was the same meeting where Trump told Mamdani he was even better looking in person and the same meeting where Trump shielded Mamdani from an uncomfortable question. Mamdani was asked after his cordial meeting whether he would still call Trump a fascist. Trump saved him and said, “That’s OK. You can just say it. That’s easier. It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”Analysts said Mamdani charmed Trump or vice versa. While it’s not known what they have spoken about in their text messages, Mamdani told the press that he had called Trump to express his displeasure with the US strikes on Venezuela. He was asked about Trump’s response to it. Mamdani said he left it at registering his stance. Trump later told the New York Times that he was “surprised” by Mamdani’s comment and “thought it was awfully quick for him to be criticizing.” Using the past tense, Trump said that “I did” have a good relationship with Mamdani, but “he hit me sooner than I thought.”One top administration official was surprised Mamdani made the call and thought he was out of line in doing so, Axios said, adding that Mamdani maintained that he is honest and direct with President Trump about places of disagreement.Insiders claimed that the recent text messages are friendly, as it’s not practical for them to scream at each other and at the same time they can’t appear too cozy.
