They found comrade ground.<\/p>\n
Zohran Mamdani\u2019s high-stakes White House meeting turned into a Freaky Friday lovefest \u2013 as President Trump lauded the socialist mayor-elect<\/a> and predicted he\u2019ll make New York City great again.<\/p>\n A sitting Trump, with Mamdani standing by his side<\/a> behind the Resolute Desk, heaped praise on the democratic socialist, jovially touching his arm as he helped him dodge tough questions and unexpectedly predicted his mayoralty will be a success.<\/p>\n The long-awaited meeting between President Trump and newly elected NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani left many shocked, as the supposed rivals instead took turns praising eachother.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he wants to make it greater than ever before,\u201d Trump told reporters. \u201cAnd if he can, we\u2019ll be out there cheering. I\u2019ll be cheering for him.\u201d<\/p>\n The erstwhile foes\u2019 gobsmackingly friendly joint appearance came after a 45-minute closed-door sit-down in the Oval Office, which they both touted as productive and focused on Mamdani\u2019s core campaign issue of affordability.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s different than your typical guy,\u201d Trump said, adding Mamdani \u201chas a chance to really do something great for New York.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani notably\u00a0avoided taking any bait to praise\u00a0Trump,\u00a0though he did offer\u00a0that the president\u2019s better-than-expected showing in New York City during 2024\u2019s presidential election<\/a> came because of his own focus on\u00a0kitchen table issues.<\/p>\n The mayor-elect said he wanted to focus on delivering real-world results for New Yorkers, rather than duke it out with the president over their vast differences.<\/p>\n \u201cI think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views, and what I really appreciate about the\u00a0president\u00a0is the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Trump agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have one thing in common. We want this city of ours that we love to do very well,\u201d Trump said as the two began fielding questions following\u00a0their confab.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he wants to make it greater than ever before,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd if he can, we\u2019ll be out there cheering. I\u2019ll be cheering for him.\u201d Yuri Gripas \u2013 Pool via CNP<\/p>\n The president even swooped in when Mamdani \u2014 who during the campaign vowed he would be Trump\u2019s \u201cworst nightmare\u201d \u2014 was pressed by reporters about his past insults calling him \u201cfascist\u201d and a \u201cdespot.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s OK, you can just say yes,\u201d Trump joked, affectionately patting him on the arm, when Mamdani was asked if he still thought of the president as a \u201cfascist.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been called much worse than a despot, so it\u2019s not that insulting,\u201d Trump also said when Mamdani was asked about that past dig.<\/p>\n Asked if he believed that the anti-Israel pol was a \u201cjihadist,\u201d Trump said he had met with \u201ca very rational person.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Trump \u2014 who previously predicted the demise of the Big Apple if \u201cmy little Communist\u201d Mamdani was elected<\/a> \u2014 said he came away from their meeting feeling \u201cvery confident\u201d\u00a0 the lefty upstart can do a good job.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually, and some very liberal people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The president even backed off his threat that if Mamdani became mayor, he\u2019d send the National Guard to the city to fight crime.<\/p>\n \u201cI expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help because I want New York City to be great,\u201d said Trump, who has also warned that New York\u2019s federal funding could be in jeopardy under Mamdani.<\/p>\n Mamdani requested the face-to-face, calling it customary for an incoming New York City mayor to meet with the president.<\/p>\n Trump said that their half-hour talk focused mainly of affordability. Yuri Gripas \u2013 Pool via CNP<\/p>\n The Queens native Trump first gave the Astoria state assemblyman a tour of the White House, before the two got down to brass tacks with their respective chiefs of staff, Susie Wiles<\/a> and Elle Bisgaard-Church, sources said.<\/p>\n Bisgaard-Church said afterward the conversation focused on Mamdani\u2019s long-shot win and affordability issues such as rent, utility and grocery costs.<\/p>\n She said Trump specifically perked up when talking about building housing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president felt very interested in a kind of common-sense approach to reduce onerous burdens on the housing and development owners, actually,\u201d she said, calling it an area of real agreement over how government can make New Yorkers\u2019 lives better.<\/p>\n Follow The Post\u2019s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysis<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The former real estate mogul Trump, as the pair faced reporters in a somewhat surreal scene, said he shared Mamdani\u2019s views that building more housing would help rents come down.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cActually people would be shocked, but I want to see the same thing,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s housing platform during the campaign centered on his \u201cfreeze the rent\u201d pitch but lacked specifics on boosting housing development\u00a0 \u2014 an issue he caught flak for as a candidate focused on the cost of living.<\/p>\n Other topics included a potential Con Edison rate hike, with the president pressuring the utility to lower costs.<\/p>\n And Trump said Mamdani knows the streets need to be \u201csafe\u201d as he praised his recent decision to keep tough-on-crime NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch<\/a> as his top cop.<\/p>\n Trump repeatedly gave Mamdani an out when he was asked questions on his previous comments about the president. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe more than anything else, he wants to have a safe New York,\u201d Trump said of Mamdani.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, a safe New York is going to be a great New York,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have safe streets, it\u2019s not going to be a success.\u201d<\/p>\n The chummy chinwag followed months of high-profile sniping between Mamdani and Trump \u2013 charismatic political polar opposites eager to make each other a foil.<\/p>\n But ahead of the meeting, both started to soften his rhetoric, with Mamdani saying he believed the two could \u201cspeak plainly\u201d about affordability.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be quite civil. We\u2019ll find out,\u201d added the president during an appearance on \u201cThe Brian Kilmeade Show\u201d earlier Friday.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s predicted civility exceeded expectations as he fielded some of the tough questions directed at Mamdani and praised his surprising election victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump also backed off his threat to send the National Guard to New York City. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n