The key takeaways from Mamdani and Trump's Oval Office love fest

WASHINGTON − Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's Oval Office meeting turned into a surprising love fest between the two New Yorkers.

On Nov. 21, Trump, the 79-year-old billionaire Republican president, warmly and repeatedly patted Mamdani's hand. Mamdani, 34, a democratic socialist, stood next to the seated president. Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Trump's native borough of Queens, made several references to how well Trump did in the 2024 presidential election in the city.

The warm feelings marked a stark contrast after months of fighting in the press and social media. Trump once called for the arrest of Mamdani if he didn't help with the administration's sweeping immigration crackdown, and he declared he wouldn’t give federal money to New York over Mamdani’s leftist politics. Mamdani has called Trump a fascist and, in his victory speech, said he's ready to go toe-to-toe with the president, including over immigration. (Trump has repeatedly restricted entry from from majority-Muslim countries; Mamdani will be New York City's first Muslim mayor.)

After their first meeting, Trump said he’d readily live in Mamdani’s New York, and Mamdani said he looked forward to working with Trump on improving affordability in their shared hometown.

“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him – a big help,” Trump said, “because I want New York City to be great.”

Mamdani told reporters earlier, “It was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers.”

Here are key takeaways:

Mamdani welcomed like MBS, instead of bullied like Zelenskyy

Trump noted the press frenzy around Mamdani’s first visit to the White House exceeded the attention given to his meetings with many foreign heads of state.

But Trump has shown a knack for making a spectacle out of meetings with those leaders, whether with humiliation or lavish praise. 

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy was chastised by Trump and Vice President JD Vance for not wearing a suit and for not showing enough gratitude for American aid during the country’s nearly 4-year-old war with Russia. But more recently, Trump had a glowing White House meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamad bin Salman, also known as MBS. Trump defended his guest when asked about U.S. intelligence finding that the Saudi leader orchestrated the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Mamdani was treated like the prince.

Neither he nor Trump took the bait when prodded by reporters to attack each other. Mamdani was asked whether he considers Trump a fascist. When Mamdani began to respond, Trump interjected. 

“That’s OK, you can just say yes,” Trump said. “It’s easier. It’s easier than explaining. I don’t mind.”

Trump patted Mamdani on his arm.

Surprising areas of agreement on affordability

Mamdani, who had called for the meeting, had said he would speak with the president on addressing the high cost of living in New York. He followed that playbook, despite their differences on issues such as federal funding cuts and Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the city. 

Both Trump and Mamdani were elected in part by focusing on reducing the cost of living. Mamdani has promised to build 200,000 affordable units of housing and supports allowing the construction of more market-rate homes in high-income areas.  

"Some of his ideas are the same as my ideas," the president said. "He wants to see housing go up, see a lot of housing created, apartments built. ... People would be shocked, but I want to see the same thing." 

Just over a year ago, Mamdani went viral on social media for speaking with New Yorkers about why they voted for Trump. With microphone in hand, Mamdani went to heavily immigrant, non-White working-class neighborhoods in the Bronx and Queens that saw the largest swings toward Trump.

Mamdani asked them about their vote, or whether they skipped the ballot box altogether. According to his post, the common theme for their support of Trump was cost of living. Mamdani then asked about the upcoming 2025 mayoral election.

“If there was a candidate talking about freezing the rent, making buses free, making universal child care a reality, are those things that you'd support?” said Mamdani, a not-so-subtle nod to his three-part campaign platform. “Absolutely,” one man told Mamdani. “He would have my vote all day.”

Trump would live in Mamdani’s New York

The 2025 mayoral election gave starkly different views of the city, and Trump frequently bashed Mamdani’s vision. He and other Republicans said Mamdani would cause crime to increase.

Trump even said he would send in the National Guard, as he has done in a number of other Democrat-run cities. But in their White House meeting, Trump, who lives in Florida, said he’d have no problem living in New York under Mamdani.

“I would feel very, very comfortable being in New York,” Trump said. “And I think much more so after the meeting." 

Trump also credited Mamdani for keeping on current Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who has overseen drops in crime.

Trump said his daughter Ivanka Trump is friends with Tisch, whose multibillionaire family owns the New York Giants and Loews Corp., among other investments, and includes major Republican donors. The women both grew up on Manhattan's East Side, and Tisch has been friends with Trump's husband, Jared Kushner, since college.

“She is a good friend of some of the people in my family, Ivanka, and they say she’s really good, really competent,” Trump said. “And he just retained her, so that’s a good sign.”

Trump dishes affirmations after rough week

The jovial Oval Office visit with Mamdani came amid a particularly bad week for Trump.

• Trump’s poll numbers are at the lowest point of his second term.
• He suffered a stinging rebuke from members of his own party who joined Democrats to order the release of government files related to the deceased sex offender and onetime Trump friend Jeffrey Epstein. Trump then signed the bill he once opposed.
• Trump has lashed out to reporters when asked about the Epstein files or when a reporter tried to ask MBS about Khashoggi.

Trump's smile-filled meeting portrayed him in a different light.

“One of the things I would have loved to be someday is the mayor of New York,” Trump said. “And especially now, because I think you’re at really a turning point one way or the other. It can go great. Or it can go in a different direction, and I think you really have a chance to make it great.”

Mamdani magnanimously noted the president’s high support in 2024 for a Republican in New York.

“There were more New Yorkers who voted for President Trump in the most recent presidential election because of that focus on cost of living,” Mamdani said, “and I'm looking forward to working together to deliver on that affordability agenda."

More shared voters between Trump and Mamdani than you would expect

The two New Yorkers discussed one thing they had in common: voters who supported them both.

“A lot of my voters actually voted for him,” Trump said.

"One in 10," Mamdani interjected.

“And I’m OK with that,” Trump responded.

About 10% of Mamdani voters backed Trump in the 2024 election, according to a CBS survey. Queens, where Trump grew up and Mamdani now lives, seemed to have the largest flip of voters to Mamdani's side, according to the CBS analysis.

The love may not last between the two unlikely new friends, but their relationship is off to a surprisingly good start.