Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani forged an unlikely friendship at the White House on Friday, after the US president and New York City’s mayor-elect met in the Oval Office to discuss the affordability crisis in the country’s biggest city.
Trump, 79, has repeatedly attacked Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist who earlier this month completed his improbable rise from little-known state assemblyman to mayor-elect. Mamdani has in the past referred to the Republican president as a “despot” and “fascist”.
But the two men heaped praise on one another as they took questions from reporters after their meeting, which both described as “productive”.