Donald Trump: Zohran Mamdani’s not-so-secret admirer

Photo courtesy of the White House/Wikimedia Commons

Many were shocked by the amicable meeting between NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Trump. The positive exchanges have prompted internet speculation regarding what could have caused this apparent shift in rhetoric.

On Nov. 21, many were shocked to see that Donald Trump hosted a meeting with democratic New York City Mayor Elect Zohran Mamdani. While in the past, it may have been routine for a president to hold a meeting with the upcoming mayor of one of the nation’s major cities, the tense political climate of today usually would not allow for a bipartisan meeting between two people who could reasonably be thought of as existing on opposite ends of the contentious political spectrum. 

But the meeting did happen. Even more astounding is the fact that the meeting went well; while it did not end in civil war, it was still weird.

In the past, as reported by Sky News, Donald Trump has referred to Mamdani as a communist and a jihadist, and had advocated for having Mamdani, a legal immigrant, deported to his country of birth, Uganda. Mamdani has expressed his desire to protect New York City from Trump’s threats to send the National Guard and his feeling that Trump is a fascist many times.

So yes, it is strange that the meeting went over seemingly well without a single contentious moment. Stranger, and more interesting, is the extreme and immediate liking Trump seemed to take to Mamdani upon their first in-person meeting. Mamdani is a handsome man—but could anyone with Mamdani’s views really be handsome enough to get Donald Trump to soften? The answer lies in the fact that it is not just his face that made Trump act the way he did. 

News outlets were shocked when Trump casually joked with Mamdani about the latter's opinion of him as a fascist, and actually defended him from Representative Elise Stefanik’s popular-among-Republicans claim that Mandani is a violent jihadist who supports Sharia Law. Trump even outright defended Mamdani against aggressive reporters asking goading questions. After the interview, hundreds of pictures circulated online, with people discussing the bright and wide smile Trump was looking up at Mamdani with. One Fox News host commented on the strange display, stating, “I think JD Vance is jealous.”

But how did Trump fall so hard for someone that his complete opposite, to the extent that he would defend Mamdani from the same right-wing reporters that he's loved watching make his political enemies squirm?

First, Trump has spent years deep inside of a far-right echo chamber. Complete loyalty to him is seen in the Republican party as the expectation, and certainly as a requirement if you want to be voted back in. Mamdani may be the first person in years who is not part of that echo chamber who was allowed close enough to charm Trump, and Mamdani was probably able to refresh his memory on what interacting with real people looked like. 

And if I had to pick someone for the task of leftistly charming a man like Trump, my top choice would be Mamdani. As noted throughout the course of his mayoral campaign, Mamdani has a way of reaching those that, in other circumstances, would have been immediately turned off by his policies and his race. 

Trump is cruel to people he thinks are communists and is cruel to Middle Easterners. Nonetheless, Mamdani also has qualities that Trump could never resist: a firm handshake, a mental energy, and a big, TV-ready smile. Mamdani was so attractive to Trump because Mamdani is a young and charming politician on an upward climb of popularity, beloved by people of all ages, lauded as the future of a major political party. Mamdani is, in Trump’s mind, exactly what he imagines and desires himself to be.