The incoming mayor has improbably charmed Donald Trump and given himself some political respiration room. However no one ought to get too snug.
President Donald Trump and New York Metropolis Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after their assembly within the Oval Workplace of the White Home, in Washington, Friday, November 21, 2025.
(Evan Vucci / AP)
Like all autocrats, Donald Trump is surrounded by cronies who yearn for him to bestow a smile on them. Aspiring heirs akin to JD Vance, an entire crew of White Home underlings, sycophants akin to Laura Loomer, and even Trump’s personal youngsters (particularly his sons) pathetically crave the smallest signal of fatherly approval. All courtiers stay for a king’s love.
So it should have reduce deep when, on Friday, Trump lavished his consideration and affection not on any of these toadies however on a person they’ve spent months demonizing: New York Metropolis Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani is a democratic socialist who has denounced Trump as a “despot” and “fascist” whereas being lambasted by the president as a “communist.” Trump has even threatened to deport Mamdani. But when the 2 males met at White Home, the scene was a veritable love-in.
The photo of Trump sitting within the Oval Workplace and gazing up at Mamdani with a giant, toothy grin has already achieved iconic standing. And the picture actually does inform the story of the encounter. Trump started the press convention by effusively congratulating Mamdani on his “unimaginable” marketing campaign, and predicted he’ll be “a extremely nice mayor.” Trump added, “The higher he does, the happier I’m. There is no such thing as a distinction in get together. There is no such thing as a distinction in something, and we’re going to be serving to him to make all people’s dream come true.”
Loomer, who’s pushed above all by rabid Islamophobia, might barely include her rage on the sight of Trump gushing over New York’s incoming first Muslim mayor, posting, “Wild to permit a jihadist communist to face behind the President’s desk within the Oval Workplace.” Fox Information host Brian Kilmeade commented, “I believe J.D. Vance is jealous. I believe the president desires to make use of him [Mamdani] as a operating mate. They actually received alongside unbelievable.”
Whereas MAGA anger on the assembly is itself gratifying, the actual significance of the occasion is what it exhibits about Mamdani’s technique for pursuing a democratic socialist agenda within the coronary heart of a deeply anti-socialist political system. Mamdani’s socialism is actual, however he’s additionally, by necessity, a pragmatist. He faces opposition not simply from right-wing Republicans but in addition from the pro-capitalist centrists who management the Democratic Celebration. In his marketing campaign, Mamdani barely obtained the help of one of many two strongest New York Democrats—Home minority chief Hakeem Jeffries—and didn’t get an endorsement in any respect from the opposite one, Senate minority chief Chuck Schumer. On the very day Mamdani met with Trump, the Home of Representatives passed a motion denouncing the “horrors” of socialism by a vote of 285 to 98, with 86 Democrats (together with Jeffries) voting in favor.
In that atmosphere, Mamdani has pursued a cautious technique that he thinks will defang the opposition and provides him area to push his affordability agenda. That has already led him to make uncomfortable, even unpalatable, selections that he thinks will hold each the New York State and the federal authorities on aspect—or, not less than, not actively working in opposition to him. He has kept on right-wing Democrat Jessica Tisch as police commissioner, a transfer that helped placate Trump. (Tisch is, because the president noted, a “good pal” of Trump’s daughter Ivanka.) And Mamdani additionally successfully lobbied a chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America in opposition to supporting a main problem to Jeffries from Mamdani’s erstwhile ally, New York Metropolis Council member Chi Ossé.
Present Challenge
It’s an open query as as to if this type of realpolitik will repay in the long term, or whether or not Mamdani will wind up undercutting the organizing that must be completed to construct a base of energy exterior the 2 main events. And a few Mamdani supporters may really feel that enjoying good with Trump is a bridge too far. However the unhappy fact is that Trump has twice been elected to the presidency. He’s not going anyplace—and he has the ability to both assist or harm New York. So Mamdani is strolling a tremendous line by making an attempt to each denounce Trump’s fascism whereas additionally defusing Trump’s risk to town.
Mamdani’s outreach to Trump has, for now, gained one important concrete profit. When Mamdani was operating for mayor, Trump had threatened to ship the Nationwide Guard to New York, as he has completed in different main cities. The president is now strolling again from this risk, telling reporters on Saturday, “Proper now, different locations want it extra. We had an excellent assembly yesterday. We talked about that.”
That is solely a short lived and provisional victory. Trump is notoriously mercurial, and added that he might change his thoughts if he feels troops are wanted. However his present place provides Mamdani some respiration room by taking the battle about troop deployment in New York off the desk.
The opposite main victory Mamdani gained will not be by way of concrete politics however within the discursive realm. As a left populist, Mamdani has been demonized by each Republicans and right-wing Democrats (notably his opponents within the mayoral race, outgoing Mayor Eric Adams and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo). These avatars of the established order have painted Mamdani as an extremist risk to the system, a covert jihadi, and an antisemite.
As progressive commentator Sam Seder noted on CNN, “Mamdani in an hour was capable of basically blow up the concept of demonizing democratic socialists.”
Remarkably, Mamdani was capable of normalize his politics on the nationwide stage with out giving an inch of floor on substance. Actually, on hot-button subjects akin to Trump’s fascism and Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Mamdani was forthright.
A outstanding second occurred when a reporter asked if Mamdani thinks Trump is a fascist. The incoming mayor began to reply by saying, “I’ve spoken about…” Then Trump interjected, “That’s OK. You may simply say it. That’s simpler. It’s simpler than explaining it. I don’t thoughts.” This led Mamdani to say, “Sure.” On Meet the Press on Sunday, Mamdani reaffirmed that he thinks Trump is a despot and fascist.
When requested about Gaza, Mamdani responded:
I’ve spoken concerning the Israeli authorities committing genocide, and I’ve spoken about our authorities funding it. And I shared with the president in our assembly concerning the concern that many New Yorkers have of wanting their tax {dollars} to go towards the good thing about New Yorkers and their capacity to afford fundamental dignity.
And what we see proper now, we’re within the ninth consecutive yr of greater than 100 thousand faculty youngsters being homeless in our metropolis, and there’s a determined needn’t just for the next of human rights but in addition the next by on the guarantees we’ve made New Yorkers, and I appreciated the assembly we had and the work that we are able to do.
It’s a significant discursive victory for the reason for Palestinian nationwide liberation that Israel’s genocide might be denounced in these phrases within the Oval Workplace, with Trump himself not feeling the necessity to problem Mamdani’s phrases.
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On the very finish of the press convention, Mamdani was requested about antisemitism. He responded, “I care deeply about Jewish security and I sit up for rooting out antisemitism throughout the 5 boroughs, and defending Jewish New Yorkers – and each New Yorker who calls town house.” Trump added, “That was good.”
Past these contentious points, Mamdani relentlessly centered on his affordability agenda. He talked about housing, meals costs, power costs, and the necessity to shield immigrants. Mamdani was capable of hold Trump on pleasant phrases by quite a lot of approaches: interesting to Trump’s personal id as a New Yorker, noting {that a} important variety of Mamdani voters had been additionally Trump voters, highlighting the trans-partisan attraction of financial populism. The truth that Mamdani is younger, good-looking, and a winner definitely additionally helped, since these are traits Trump admires.
Trump’s variability signifies that he may simply return to denouncing Mamdani in lurid right-wing phrases. However even when that occurs, the photographs of from this press convention gained’t simply be erased. Mamdani was capable of current his strong democratic socialist agenda within the Oval Workplace and get a Republican president to deal with it as a traditional a part of American politics.
Mamdani’s pragmatic socialism nonetheless faces many hurdles and may fail. However with the White Home assembly, it’s off to a startlingly good begin.
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