Trump Plays Down Feud With Mamdani In Positive White House Meeting

Topline

President Donald Trump praised New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and said he didn’t mind if Mamdani considered him a fascist during a friendly White House meeting Friday, weeks after the two traded barbs ahead of New York City’s mayoral election.

Trump met with Mamdani in the White House on Friday afternoon.

Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

During a meeting in the Oval Office Friday, Mamdani was asked by a reporter if he stood by a previous comment that Trump was a fascist; when Mamdani began responding, Trump interrupted, smiling, and said, “That’s okay, you can just say yes. It’s easier.”

Mamdani gestured to the reporter, smiling and saying “yes” before Trump said, “It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind,” patting the mayor-elect’s arm.

Trump and Mamdani, who appeared at odds in the leadup to New York City’s mayoral election, met in the White House before speaking with reporters and agreed “on a lot more than I would have thought,” Trump said.

Mamdani characterized the meeting as “productive,” saying he and Trump focused on New York and “the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers.”

Trump, who once suggested he would pull federal funding from a Mamdani-led New York, said he expects “to be helping” the mayor-elect, “not hurting him.”

When asked about a recent comment he made calling Trump a “despot,”, Mamdani said he and Trump are “both very clear on our positions and our views” before Trump chimed in, adding, “I’ve been called much worse than a despot so it’s not that insulting.”

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Tangent

Trump shot down a comment Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., made about Mamdani in October, when she called him a “jihadist candidate.” Asked if he believed he was sitting next to a jihadist, Trump said, “No, I don’t.” The president added, “You say things sometimes in a campaign,” noting, “I met with a man who’s a very rational person.”

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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/11/21/trump-says-hes-okay-with-mamdani-considering-him-a-fascist-in-friendly-meeting/