Inside Trump and Mamdani's surprising bond of convenience

For all the hype of a conflict, President Trump and New York City's next mayor, Zohran Mamdani, had a surprising bond when they met Friday in the Oval Office: populist outsiders, lovers of the Big Apple, and two politicians who each want what the other has.Mamdani, facing a city budget deficit, needs federal money and doesn't want Trump to send National Guard troops into New York City.Trump, reeling from bad polling on the economy, sought to co-opt some of the shine from the charismatic Mamdani's message on affordability.Why it matters: For a few minutes, Mamdani — whom Trump had called a communist — and Trump, whom Mamdani had called a fascist, gave a glimpse of how they might find common ground by putting aside vast partisan differences and working together, or at least appearing to.At minimum, they put on a show with head-turning congeniality. "It's an episode of 'Celebrity Apprentice,' " said Trump pollster John McLaughlin, referencing the former president's hit TV show."You've got America's most famous socialist meeting America's most famous capitalist," he said. "And they got along great."Yes, but: Many Republicans bristled at Trump sidling up to Mamdani, a democratic socialist whom they've been trying to cast as a bogeyman with broad influence in the Democratic Party as the 2026 midterms approach.Zoom in: In a joint press appearance, with Trump sitting at the Resolute Desk and Mamdani standing by, the president zeroed in on affordability after the roughly 30-minute private sit-down between the two. It was an issue the mayor-elect relentlessly focused on in his odds-defying campaign — one that bore some echoes to Trump's first run for president a decade ago."If I can get prices down, it's good for New York," Trump said."I know there might be differences about ideology, but the place of agreement is the work that needs to be done to make New York City affordable," Mamdani chimed in.Mamdani dodged questions about his past blistering of Trump and pledged to work with the White House."This is great for Democrats," said Joe Calvello, a progressive strategist close to Mamdani's team.GOP efforts to cast Mamdani as a too-far-left bogeyman could be tough in next year's elections, Calvello said, when "here's Trump joshing it up with him, tapping him on the shoulder, complimenting him. It makes it a little weaker."Friction point: That's why many Republicans weren't nearly as impressed as Democrats with Friday's performance by Trump and Mamdani. Trump's praise of Mamdani may have undermined one of the president's closest GOP allies — New York Rep. Elise Stefanik.Stefanik is focusing much of her 2026 campaign for New York governor on portraying incumbent Kathy Hochul as a socialist in Mamdani's mold. When asked if he agreed with Stefanik's assertion that Mamdani was a "jihadist," Trump said he didn't."[W]e'll have to agree to disagree on this one," Stefanik posted on X afterward.Behind the scenes: Trump allies have been eager to change the channel on an array of issues that have been dominating the news — the bad polling, but especially the ongoing focus on the upcoming release of documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Trump accomplished that — at least for a day — by inviting Mamdani into the Oval Office. The meeting was initially sought by Mamdani, sources told Axios.Mamdani charmed Trump with talk of New York City neighborhoods and discussed an old pharmacy the president's father once frequented."For some reason, the press has found this to be a very interesting meeting. The biggest people in the world, they come over from countries, nobody cares, but they did care about this meeting," Trump said at one point.For the mayor-elect, the stakes were high. Mamdani has been preparing for the possibility of Trump sending in National Guard troops, as he's done in several other Democrat-run cities under the guise of fighting crime.Mamdani has been talking with Democratic governors about how to deal with the president, who has threatened to withhold funding from New York City if Mamdani implemented policies he didn't like.Inside the room: Trump loves asymmetry — zigging when the crowd thinks he'll zag. To that end, he hyped Friday's meeting in negative terms, calling Mamdani a communist — a false claim the White House press secretary made sure to mention the day before.For all of Trump's smooth graciousness Friday, his White House has been gripped over concerns about his slipping poll numbers with young voters, especially over affordability.On Monday, pollster Mark Mitchell with Rasmussen Reports was called to the White House and delivered sobering news about how Trump's approval ratings for voters under age 40 have sunk."Now they like Mamdani," Mitchell said of young voters on rightwing podcast host Alex Jones' show, recounting his meeting with Trump's team."You can't teach these people that they have to be conservative capitalists because it's failed them," Mitchell said. "Voters under 30 know nothing except Trump and the establishment. That's all they know. And they look at the establishment and they say, 'It's terrible. Why aren't you fighting this?' "What's next: Trump plans to keep talking about affordability. Those who know his thinking say it wouldn't surprise them to see more friendly meetings with Mamdani."For New Yorkers like me who want to see the city get better and come back, hopefully they'll work together and make it a better place," said McLaughlin, Trump's pollster, who couldn't resist throwing a little shade at Mamdani's fellow democratic socialists."Give Mamdani credit," he said. "I'm not sure Bernie Sanders or AOC could pull off this meeting."

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