US President Donald Trump gave a warm greeting to incoming New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday, praising Mamdani’s electoral victory in the first in-person meeting for the political opposites, who have clashed over everything from immigration to economic policy. After months of trading barbs and insults in the media, the mayor-elect and the president appeared to put aside their differences and quickly strike a rapport in the Oval Office, a setting that Trump has sometimes used to embarrass heads of state. “We agreed on a lot more than I thought,” Trump said after inviting journalists into the Oval Office following a private meeting.
We have one thing in common: we want this city of ours that we love to do very well.” Sitting at his desk, Trump smiled up at Mamdani, who stood to the president’s right, and offered his congratulations on winning the mayoral election earlier this month: “He really ran an incredible race against some very tough people, very smart people.”