After One Meeting, Trump Says Mamdani Is “Very Rational, Very Smart, and Probably My New Best Friend”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump walked out of his meeting with incoming New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday looking bizarrely thrilled for a man who spent months calling him a communist.

“He’s very rational, very smart, and probably my new best friend,” Trump announced, prompting aides to glance around as if they weren’t sure whether to applaud or call security.

Reporters noted the president brightened when Mamdani used the words “build” and “housing,”—two terms that immediately activate the real estate lobe of Trump’s brain. After that, Trump treated Mamdani with the kind of warmth usually reserved for people telling him exactly what he wants to hear.

Meanwhile, New York Republican Elise Stefanik continued insisting Mamdani is some sort of jihadist threat—a message that landed with the grace of a brick as photos circulated of Trump beaming next to Mamdani like he’d just discovered friendship for the first time all year.

White House officials said the conversation “couldn’t have gone better,” which, based on Trump’s face, might actually undersell it.