Trump receives Mamdani: Two New Yorkers meet…

They called themselves “despots” and “communists.” However, after the first meeting, the US president and the mayoral candidate showed mutual respect. What happened there?


US President Donald Trump and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared harmonious during their meeting at the White House.
© Jim Watson/​AFP/​Getty Images

At first glance, the scene in the Oval Office looks exactly as one might imagine given the stark power imbalance. The president, wearing a red tie, sat behind his big tie on Friday afternoon
Firm Desk. To his right stood the future mayor of New York, wearing a blue tie, his hands folded dutifully in front of him. Zohran Mamdani could easily be considered one of the eager White House staffers waiting for the moment Donald Trump next executive order to be submitted for signature.

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