President Donald Trump and the mayor of a top blue city appear to have an unexpectedly cordial relationship.
Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is apparently texting buddies with President Trump, despite their deep ideological differences, per a report from Axios.
On the night of his election last November, then mayor-elect Mamdani took the stage in Brooklyn to celebrate his historic victory, making a prominent point to call out Trump by name.
‘Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you,’ Mamdani noted, before instructing the president to ‘turn the volume up’ on his speech during which he called out Trump as a former New York City landlord who built his wealth on the backs of the less fortunate.
‘The Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants,’ Mamdani jabbed, before continuing that he ‘will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks.’
Shortly after Mamdani’s election, however, Trump welcomed him into the Oval Office and the duo pledged to work together on issues facing New Yorkers, including housing, affordability, and public safety.
Trump also noted in that famed Oval Office meeting that he expected Mamdani to ‘surprise some conservative people,’ and even reportedly praised the socialist’s appearance, telling him that he was ‘even better-looking in person than … on TV,’ according to New York Magazine.
The texting began soon after Trump and Mamdani exchanged numbers during their November meeting, the sources told Axios.
President Donald Trump gestures as he walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington
Confetti rains down on the crowd during New York mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public inauguration ceremony followed by a block party at City Hall in New York on January 1, 2026
During Mamdani’s campaign, Trump branded him a ‘100% Communist Lunatic’, threatened him with deportation, and flirted openly with cutting federal funds to New York City.
Trump’s embrace of Mamdani also undoubtedly had lasting effects on New York’s state political scene, as he dismissed attacks levied on him by New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who intended to run for the office of governor back in her home state before she dropped out of the race at the end of December.
President Donald Trump meets with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (L) in the Oval Office of the White House on November 21, 2025 in Washington, DC
Stefanik had previously called Mamdani a ‘jihadist’ and undoubtedly planned to tie her Democrat opponent, New York’s incumbent governor, Kathy Hochul, to the fringes of her party like Mamdani.
When a reporter pressed Trump directly about Stefanik’s rhetoric, Trump waved the accusation off as nothing more than campaign fighting talk.
‘She’s out there campaigning,’ Trump said at the time.
‘You say things sometimes in a campaign. You’d have to ask her about that. I met with a man who is a rational person,’ he continued with his newfound characterization of Mamdani.
