In an exultant victory address earlier in November, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani directly spoke to President Donald Trump, instructing the president to “crank up the volume.” Trump has frequently branded Mamdani as a “Communist” and cast doubt on his citizenship.
However, when the pair convened in the Oval Office on Friday, the atmosphere was noticeably amiable — almost warm. “Ideally, you’ll secure an outstanding mayor,” Trump mentioned to journalists. “The more effectively he performs, the more pleased I become.”
To analyze the occurrences of their meeting, the reasons behind it not being totally unexpected, and its potential implications for New York City and the Republican Party, I consulted with my colleague Astead Herndon, who has reported on Trump and recently composed a comprehensive profile of Mamdani. Our dialogue, condensed for conciseness and precision, is provided below.
So, Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani exhibited this surprisingly amicable demeanor in the Oval. What took place? Does this carry significant weight?
I definitely believe it is noteworthy. It exemplifies the objective that Mamdani brought to his entire campaign, particularly the general election — his steady capacity to convert doubters into advocates. This consistently transpired in a manner that was integrated into his strategy, and I believe we witnessed that on the most prominent stage yesterday.
In certain respects, it mirrors several of the encounters he’s already had, but in some ways, it’s substantially more exceptional given Trump’s statements, and the method in which Trump was truly approaching him. Trump is the individual displaying the thumbs-up in the images, not Mamdani. And I believe that is demonstrative of a strategy where Mamdani and his team approach these [meetings] and endeavor to concentrate on areas of consensus and shared principles. They pinpointed affordability as a principle they believe Donald Trump endorsed, and they proceeded with that intention. That remains the strategy employed for diverse types of meetings.
He possesses this approach that has proven quite effective. He’s persuaded numerous individuals in New York City politics and within the business sector. Considering that, were you taken aback by how favorably Friday transpired?
I anticipated that Trump would regard him highly, but I was unaware that Trump would heap praise upon him. I didn’t envision that Trump would perceive him in a familial way. He’s exhibiting smiles in a manner I haven’t observed, even with political compatriots.
I truly believe that it portrays two politicians whose visions align. These are individuals who have both surmounted political structures and who both partake in a form of movement-centered politics, not dependent on traditional transactional endorsement systems. I believe there is a specific New York, Queens admiration for each other, and the ascent Mamdani needed to make to become mayor. These are furthermore two individuals who perceive politics as collective action rather than a solo endeavor, and that doesn’t apply to everyone.
When I attended a Mamdani assembly and the attendees could recite his key policies through call-and-response — freeze the rent, expedite buses and make them free, offer free child care — the singular other instance where I’ve encountered that, where attendees can repeat the signature policy, is with “build the wall.” Hence, it’s not solely theatrics, it’s theatrics coupled with a value that individuals believe in and engage with beyond conventional political frameworks.
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Trump entered the political landscape as a New York individual, and that characteristic has progressively diminished. He’s relocated to Florida; he frequents Mar-a-Lago. Nonetheless, he remains captivated by revisiting his Queens origins, correct?
I believe he possesses a profound concern for New York. The conventional Republican strategy involves permitting cities to decline, or even reveling in the decline of certain cities, as they have with Chicago. I don’t think Trump perceives New York similarly because he has devoted his life to the region, and therefore I credit him when he conveys his desire for the city to flourish.
Donald Trump sensed a rejection from specific echelons of New York, by particular expressions of elite New York Democratic liberalism that had excluded him. However, Zohran Mamdani has faced exclusion from those same constructs as well. There’s a component of Queens outsider in this that does create a bond between them.
In his early years in New York City, Trump was remarkably accommodating in collaborating with and donating to Democrats and Republicans. He possessed practicality, emerging as a builder in the New York political arena.
I believe that it is necessary, and that pragmatism is echoed in Mamdani. During the period when individuals perceived him as ideologically unyielding because of affiliations such as DSA and his past political engagement, a facet that was quite evident to me during the campaign was that he did not envision his mayoral role identically to his function as a member of the New York State Assembly.
He realized that it’s a position necessitating compromise, requiring him to distance himself from DSA, and to stimulate his base. I believe there was an acknowledgment that flexibility would be required. These are all facets that Donald Trump uses to ascend and that all-rounder, “adapt to the situation” mindset.
Why did this meeting transpire initially, subsequent to the highly disputatious exchange between Trump and Mamdani throughout the campaign?
Mamdani’s team initiated contact, and I believe there existed a tangible perception that it served the city’s interests to refrain from antagonizing Donald Trump, considering the preceding rhetoric that Trump could potentially inflict a disaster on New York, conceivably even commencing on Inauguration Day.
Mamdani’s victory oration on election night was addressed to Trump during their moment of triumph, but it didn’t strike me as though they would sustain a fully adversarial stance, at least initially. It aligns with the strategy they’ve pursued with diverse opponents — a readiness to engage, premised on an underlying presumption of integrity. I’m not under the impression that all Democrats have embraced this, but I do think it’s an attribute that is essentially necessary if you intend to achieve success, especially in the capacity of mayor.
Do you perceive any semblance of a strategy here that other Democrats or other mayors could use?
I don’t think it departs from the lesson Mamdani has already imparted. Donald Trump has consistently favored those who engaged with him straightforwardly regarding their convictions and originated from that standpoint. I believe this was evident in Nancy Pelosi, as well as Zohran.
Nonetheless, several additional elements at play here are noteworthy. I believe the New York connection is significant. I believe Mamdani as a communicator and his ease in those settings are important. Commencing from a platform of principles enables one to transition onto a podcast more effortlessly, navigate the Oval Office more seamlessly, and move opponents or allies. That ease arises from Mamdani’s understanding that he isn’t endeavoring to triangulate. That strategy isn’t always employed by Democrats.
Where do you envision the Mamdani-Trump dynamic proceeding from this point?
Some Republicans are attempting to implement a clear fear-mongering campaign. Circumstances can evolve. They might revert to referring to him as Mamdani the Communist by the following week, and I believe that is somewhat expected. Nonetheless, I perceive these images as profoundly impactful and challenging to disregard.
They’re not solely impactful; they conform to a pattern, which is that when individuals have interacted with Mamdani, he has not embodied the radical persona that Republicans and certain Democrats have sought to depict him as. This is the rationale behind his success in the mayoral contest, and it explains why the Republican fear-mongering tactic always threatened to be exposed. In this instance, I believe Trump has, in reality, exposed it.
Source: vox.com
