Opinion Between ‘Communist’ Mamdani and ‘Despot’ Trump, the common ground is the city
Mamdani’s charm and Trump’s unpredictability can, indeed, come together to make a great media spectacle. But for New Yorkers, reeling under inflation and the worst housing crisis in a century, the initial levels of comfort between its mayor-elect and Trump mean that there’s something to look forward to
Trump Mamdani meeting: President Donald Trump shakes hands with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office of the White House. (Photo: AP) 
Before Zohran Mamdani’s meeting with Donald Trump, the US President’s spokesperson had billed the New York mayor-elect’s visit as a “communist coming to the White House”. Trump had once described Mamdani as a “jihadist” and threatened to strip him of his American citizenship. Mamdani had, in turn, called Trump a despot. But when the two came face to face on Friday, in place of the animosity of the past five months, there was an inexplicable warmth, leaving Washington watchers, many of whom had predicted that the Republican president would be socialist mayor’s bete noire, surprised. Trump, now officially a Florida resident, said he would “absolutely” live in New York under Mayor Mamdani.
The Oval Office meeting was, reportedly, dominated by discussions on blue-collar jobs, and Trump showed interest in helping enact aspects of the new mayor’s agenda, like an expansion of housing.
It might be premature to argue that two populists, from two ends of the political spectrum, have found common cause in New York’s civic issues — and ideology has given way to pragmatism. It may also be too early to say if the Trump-Mamdani meeting signals a change of heart in the President, who has attacked American cities in classist and racially coded terms. Trump has, for instance, described San Francisco as worse than a slum, Los Angeles as a trash heap occupied by illegal aliens and Washington DC, as “distinguished by crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse”. But on Friday, if Trump indicated that he is ready to listen to the new mayor, Mamdani too showed that he is ready to paper over his differences with the president over crime and immigration by acknowledging that the rising cost of living was a big reason for the American voter’s presidential choice. Trump and Mamdani also seem to recognise one thing: The generation that lived with the great American dream of a nice big house with a fence, and a stable nine-to-five job is dwindling away.
Before Mamdani was elected, Trump slashed federal funding of $18bn for major infrastructure projects in New York. Is the American president looking to make amends? On Friday, Trump said that some of Mamdani’s “ideas are really the same ideas I have”. Is this an endorsement of a president, who has made his fortune in real estate, for Mamdani’s programmes of rent freezes and rent-stabilised housing, free and faster transport, universal childcare, and city-run grocery stores? Or is this classic Trump, saying one thing one day and doing quite the opposite one another?
Or did Mamdani actually win round one by staying laser focused on “affordability,” which Trump acknowledged, “is the new word”. Mamdani’s charm and Trump’s unpredictability can, indeed, come together to make a great media spectacle. But let’s not forget the other side of the story — a lot of New York’s residents are today clutching at straws. We do not know if the Trump-Mamdani bonhomie will last. But one thing is certain: Those assailed by costs of living far steeper than the general inflation rate in America will not quibble over ideology if a republican and a leftist could come together to frame solutions. For a city facing its worst housing crisis in a century, the initial levels of comfort between its mayor-elect and Trump mean that there’s indeed something to look forward to.
In the coming months, however, difficult questions are likely to come to the fore: There is growing evidence now that instead of making things better for urban Americans, Trump’s hostility to immigration is hurting the economy. Will the President and the mayor of America’s most populous city come to terms on questions of diversity? They may be on the same page on cost of living, but will they see eye-to-eye on financial solutions? Can the two build on the “interesting conversation”? New York – the US and the world – are in for interesting times, if they can translate Friday’s bonhomie into action.
kaushik.dasgupta@expressindia.com
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