Trump, Mamdani form 'unlikely alliance' as Potus says he is 'absolutely' comfortable living in New York

Contrary to popular assumption, US President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani had a cordial meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon as the two formed an ‘unlikely alliance’. While speaking to reporters after the meeting, both Trump and Mamdani agreed to work together to address housing, food prices, and cost-of-living concerns that have defined both their political appeals to working-class voters.

“We agreed a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said in the Oval Office, sometimes jumping in to shield Mamdani from aggressive questioning from the press. The face-off was much anticipated, with many predicting that it would be contentious. Part of the reason for the presumption was that both had engaged in months of intense rhetoric against each other.

While Trump often branded Mamdani a “ communist lunatic ”, the NYC mayor-elect described Trump as “fascist”, a claim he has been asked about after the Friday meeting. Amid fears of the clash, the meeting between Trump and Mamdani produced camaraderie, warm words and concrete pledges of cooperation between the Republican president and the self-described democratic socialist who secured a commanding electoral victory earlier at the beginning of November with over 50 per cent of the vote .

“I feel very confident that he can do a very good job,” Trump said after the meeting, offering praise for his ideological opposite. “The better he does, the happier I am. I will say there’s no difference in party. There’s no difference in anything, and we’re going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York.”

An unexpectedly warm meeting

The president went on to congratulate Mamdani for his NYC mayoral election win, calling it “an incredible race against smart people” – and the two politicians shook hands. The American president also noted that he had already seen signs that the young politician might surprise both conservative and liberal observers alike.

Meanwhile, Mamdani said that the meeting represented vindication of his strategy to focus the discussion on economic issues rather than ideological divides. He described the talks as “productive” and “focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City ”.

“We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out,” Mamdani told reporters after emerging from the Oval Office. “We had some interesting conversations, and some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have," Trump added, pointing to their agreement on lowering crime and building housing.

On numerous occasions, Trump was seen coming to Mamdani’s defence. Rebutting the “jihadist” attack, Trump said that he would feel comfortable living in New York under Mamdani. Trump also stepped in to help Mamdani when one reporter asked in an incredulous tone if the mayor-elect was “affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?”

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s willingness to meet was evidence of his openness to dialogue across political divides. “President Trump is willing to meet with anyone and talk to anyone and to try to do what’s right on behalf of the American people, whether they live in blue states or red states, or blue cities,” Leavitt said. It will now be interesting to see if the alliance will continue after Mamdani assumes the role of NYC Mayor.