As much as Donald Trump avoids face-to-face confrontation, a bromance between POTUS and Zohran Mamdani was probably not on anyone’s bingo card today.
In the end, the much-hyped meeting Friday between the two guys from Queens, NYC was full of praise and promise in front of the cameras. In fact, a smiling Trump gave the NYC Mayor-elect an affectionate pat on the arm and told Mamdani “you can say that,” and added “it’s easier than explaining” as the latter was asked if he thought the ex-Apprentice host was a “fascist.”
Centering on the topic of affordability, a foundation of Mamdani’s outside campaign and landslide victory earlier this month, a “people would be shocked” assertingTrump added: “Some of his ideas are the same ideas I have.”
“He wants to see no crime, rents coming down — all things I agree with,” Trump said of Mamdani, who takes office on January 1. “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him.”
“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” a measured Trump continued, citing the support he got at the ballot box from Bernie Sanders supporters in the 2016 election. “I really think he had a chance to do a great job.”
Covered on every cable newser and online, the media availability came after a nearly hourlong sit-down between the two (previously) sworn political enemies both declared “we want this city of ours that we love to do very well,” as Trump affirmed. Though it wasn’t all wine and roses, as both men squirmed a bit when the topic of ICE raids and crime came up — though they weaved away from the conflict to the clear frustration of the media
As the duo laughed and praised each other, Trump himself avoided discussion of his $1 billion plus potential lawsuit against the BBC and reports that the Coast Guard will no longer view swastikas flag as hateful.
“I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually, and some very liberal people – he won’t surprise him because they already like him.” Trump stated of the man some have already called one of the leaders of the Democrats. “It’s an amazing thing he did,” Trump added of Mamdani’s campaign and election win.
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