They found they had more in common than was predicted or expected. It was a nice surprise but many of us had a hunch they would get along. Mamdani’s charm and intelligence carried the day. “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump said in a later press conference.
Josh Marshall (TPM) observed: “For two or three weeks Trump’s been getting knocked around like a punch-drunk, overaged boxer in a match he never should have agreed to fight. I’m sure Mamdani’s charm offensive felt pretty nice after that.” The mayor was generally cool and collected; the president effusive in his comments.
After loading him up with insults (“a 100% Communist Lunatic”) and worse by all the typical Republican/MAGA suspects, their meeting became “the oddest screwball buddy comedy in American politics. The ‘fascist’ and the ‘communist.’ The president and the mayor. The old man and the Young Turk.”
They agreed to work together on a number of affordability concerns, particularly housing. “We agreed a lot more than I would have thought,” said Trump. They talked about rent, grocery prices, utilities—and housing, in which Trump has had more than a passing interest.
Two notable quotes:
Politico: Trump even told reporters that Mamdani had played up their unlikely political similarities: Mamdani “said a lot of my voters actually voted for him,” said the evidently pleased president. Mamdani noted that he often spoke with those voters—a point that elicited a grin from the president sitting behind the Resolute Desk.
Trump (from Bloomberg): “I always said, you know, one of the things I would love to be someday is the mayor of New York City, being the mayor of New York and especially now, because I think you’re at a really a turning point, one way or the other, it could go great, or it can go in a different direction, and I think you really have a chance to make it great,” Trump said.
I was in New York on election day, and there were good vibes all around the town. I assume your Antisemitic headline was facetious. About a third of Jewish NYC voters went for Momdani, including all of them I know.
One thing the two truly do share is they both want to build build build.
You still find the best quotes and links. This, for instance, is wonderful: “the oddest screwball buddy comedy in American politics.” Keep ’em comin’, please