US President Donald Trump on Friday struck a surprisingly warm tone after his first Oval Office meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a political rival he had mocked for months on the campaign trail. Standing beside Mamdani at the Resolute Desk, Trump praised their closed-door conversation and called it “really good” and “very productive,” signaling a sharp shift from the fiery rhetoric that defined their earlier exchanges.
“We’ve just had a great meeting,” Trump told reporters, with Mamdani at his side. The remarks marked an unexpected moment of unity between two leaders who spent much of the election season at odds.
A Sudden Change In Tone
Throughout the mayoral race, Trump frequently belittled Mamdani. Yet on Friday, he applauded the 34-year-old’s victory and insisted he wanted the mayor-elect to thrive. “The better he does, the happier I am,” Trump said. “We have one thing in common, we want this city of ours that we love to do incredibly well.”
Trump even suggested Mamdani might prove more adaptable than critics expect. With the mayor-elect standing over his right shoulder, the president remarked, “I think he’s going to change on some of his views. Some of my views have changed too, since I entered public office.” He added that Mamdani “might surprise some conservative people.”
Mamdani Calls Meeting ‘Productive’
Mamdani, who has built his political platform around affordability, housing, and cost-of-living concerns, echoed Trump’s upbeat summary. “As he said, it was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, New York City,” the mayor-elect said.
He noted that their conversation zeroed in on the economic pressure facing millions of residents. “We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities,” Mamdani said. “We spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out.”
The mayor-elect emphasised that he looks forward to working with the administration to make the city more affordable for “the eight and a half million people who call our city home.”
A Quiet Entrance, A Loud Moment
Mamdani’s arrival at the White House earlier in the day briefly puzzled reporters. He skipped the main entrance, where dozens of journalists had gathered hoping to catch a glimpse of him, and instead appeared inside the complex without passing the waiting cameras.
The only official hint came from White House communications director Steven Cheung, who posted a photo on X of the assembled press corps outside the West Wing with a teasing caption: “Too late guys! Y’all are too slow!”
Past Clashes
Trump set the stage for a softer meeting during a morning appearance on Fox News Radio with host Brian Kilmeade, where he admitted he may have “hit Mamdani a little hard” during the campaign. “I give him a lot of credit for the run,” Trump said. “I think we’ll get along fine.”
The president had spent months portraying Mamdani as a “radical left lunatic” and predicting he would be “a disaster” for New York. Yet by Friday morning he was moderating his tone, telling the radio host, “We both want New York to be strong.”
Mamdani, a democratic socialist who takes office on January 1, requested the meeting to address affordability, housing pressures, and public safety, issues on which he and Trump have often disagreed publicly. Their clashes over immigration, policing, and federal funding have been frequent and sharp.
Trump announced the meeting Wednesday night on social media while once again labeling Mamdani a “communist,” placing the mayor-elect’s middle name, Kwame, in quotation marks. But by the next morning, he was predicting the two leaders would get along.
“He’s got a different philosophy. He’s a little bit different,” Trump said. “They did a successful run. I think we’ll get along fine.”
The president added that, despite political differences, both men shared one overarching priority: “We want to make New York strong.”
