Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani are the last people you’d expect to get along. Zohran Mamdani was born in Uganda, is a Muslim, came to power on a platform of Democratic socialist ideals, and has been firm about his support for immigrant New Yorkers.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, is Donald Trump. During the mayoral campaign, Trump dubbed Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic,” a “total nut job,” and repeatedly questioned his citizenship status. He also threatened to cut federal funding to New York City if Mamdani won.
And yet when they’ve met they’ve apparently gotten along like a house on fire. Mamdani has visited the White House twice, with Trump unexpectedly praising him, saying, “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” “The better he does, the happier I am,” and noting, “We agree on a lot more than I would’ve thought.”
“The Trump Charmer”
Now Mamdani has welcomed Trump to Gracie Mansion – the first visit to the New York City Mayor’s home by a sitting president since Ronald Reagan 45 years ago – and, wouldn’t you know it, the bromance is alive and well.
As per The Guardian, Mamdani said he and Trump had a private and “wide-ranging” discussion that touched on affordable housing and immigration, later telling the press, “I shared my very strong opinions about how we can keep New Yorkers safe, how we can keep immigrant New Yorkers safe, and how important immigrant New Yorkers, especially Haitian New Yorkers, are – not only to the fabric of our city, but also to our city’s economy.”
Addressing the press outside, Trump said he wanted Mamdani to be “great”, saying, “I certainly hope he will be a great mayor. You have to understand – I want what’s good for New York. I want what’s good for the country … I want him to be a great mayor.” The pair appeared calm and comfortable with each other, with Trump respectfully letting Mamdani talk without interruption and then giving him a friendly pat on the arm afterwards.
It is genuinely unclear why the two men get along so well. However, today Politico described Mamdani as “The Trump Charmer” and quoted Mamdani’s longtime friend Asad Dandia theorizing why Trump acts like this around him: “Trump is invested in his own mythology as a New York character, and Mamdani knows how to speak in the language of the city. Perhaps the president recognizes that this moment may be his final opportunity to leave a lasting impact on his hometown, and the mayor knows that he needs the president’s help for his agenda, and so the two have met as partners on the shared terrain of wanting to make New York history.”
Published: Sep 22, 2026 08:49 am