President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, in a major political twist, seemed to hit it off in their first meeting on Friday at the White House; in fact, it seems to be the exact embodiment of the expression “politics makes strange bedfellows.”
And in an even weirder development, Trump told Mamdani he could go ahead and call him a “fascist.”
When a reporter asked Mamdani in the Oval office as the mayor-elect stood next to Trump who was seated at the Resolute Desk, whether Mamdani believes Trump is a “fascist,” the new mayor-elect started to answer when shockingly, Trump reached over and patted him on the arm with a smile telling him, “That’s OK, you can just say ‘yes,’ it’s easier, it’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”
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“There’s something wayyyyy off about Trump’s sudden embrace of Mamdani. Best case scenario, I say he’s got some sort of real estate ulterior motive planned. Worst case? I’m scared to think,” this Threads user speculated. “He’s plotting something,” another person chimed on.
“Trump thinks everyone can be bought,” another chimed in. “Trump admitting he’s a fascist is what I got,” yet another responded.
And this humorous comment, “I actually don’t think he knows what it means…”
A reporter also asked Trump about referring to Mamdani, a social democrat, as a “communist” repeatedly during the mayoral race and why he felt that way.
And in yet another twist, Trump gave a surprisingly reasonable explanation.
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“I mean, he’s got views that are a little out there, but who knows? I mean, we’re gonna see what works, or he’s gonna change also. We all change. I change a lot,” Trump said.
“When I first came to office, it’s now quite a while ago … And I can tell you some of my views have changed, and we had discussions on some things, and I’m not going to discuss what they were, but that I feel very confident that he can do a very good job,” Trump stunningly said with Mamdani right next to him.
Trump went even further, “I think he’s going to surprise some conservative people.”
The president also said he doesn’t believe Mamdani is a “jihadist,” as other MAGA lawmakers have said. In fact, GOP New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is running for governor of New York in 2026, is still referring to Mamdani as a “jihadist.”
“No, I don’t,” Trump replied when asked if he thought Mamdani is a jihadist. “I met with a man who’s a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see, really wants to see New York be great again.”
To say that Trump’s gracious treatment of Mamdani is a surprise is an understatement.
During the brutal campaign when Mamdani was running against Democrat and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who Trump endorsed, and Republican Curtis Sliwa, Trump called Mamdani “my little communist mayor,” and Mamdani pledged to “Trump-proof” New York, according to CBS News.
Trump, a former New Yorker who grew up in Queens, also called Mamdani “a communist lunatic,” and Mamdani accused the President of a campaign of “intimidation.”
Apparently, that is all in the rearview mirror now. The two men appeared happy at the press conference on Friday afternoon and seemed to like each other.
Trump was also asked if he would feel comfortable living in New York with Mamdani leading the city.
“Yeah, I would. I really would,” he said, giving Mamdani a resounding endorsement.
“I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor; the better he does, the happier I am,” Trump added.
Trump also praised Mamdani for keeping on current Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, a seasoned public-sector leader credited with driving recent drops in crime.
He went on to note that his daughter, Ivanka Trump, is friends with Tisch, whose ultra-wealthy family owns the New York Giants and Loews Corporation and includes major GOP donors. Both Ivanka and Tisch grew up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and Tisch has long been friends with Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, from their college years.
“She’s a good friend of some of the people in my family — Ivanka — and they say she’s really good, really competent,” Trump said. “And he just retained her, so that’s a good sign.”
