United States President Donald Trump lavishly praised New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani after surprisingly cordial talks in the White House on Friday, defying expectations of a potentially tense meeting between the Republican billionaire and the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist.

The warmth displayed came in stark contrast to the barbs the pair have exchanged in recent months. Trump has caricatured Mamdani as an anti-Semitic communist, even threatening to strip him of his US citizenship, while Mamdani called Trump a “despot” in his election victory speech just weeks ago.

But the pair appeared to put these seemingly irrevocable differences aside – for one day at least – with Trump describing the “great meeting” as “really productive” when talking to reporters in the Oval Office with Mamdani standing by his side.

With many left unsure of what to make of the bizarrely chummy meeting between the political polar opposites, here are a few key takeaways:

Finding common ground

Trump and Mamdani exuded friendliness in their first get-together since the 34-year-old beat Democratic establishment party figures earlier this month, notably former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, to become New York City’s mayor-elect.

Mamdani said ahead of his meeting with Trump that he was willing to “meet with anyone” to push forward his affordability agenda for the US’s largest city, saying that he and Trump shared some common ground in that they ran campaigns focused on the cost-of-living crisis.

“I will speak to everyone so long as it could stand to benefit an economic agenda for New Yorkers. And that’s where I will always make the case,” he said.

The approach appears to have paid off, with Trump saying he and Mamdani “agree on a lot more than I would have thought”, as he predicted success for his tenure leading New York.

“Some of his ideas are the same ideas I have,” said Trump, adding that some of his supporters also voted for Mamdani, who pitched in, saying “one in 10”.

Trump said of Mamdani: “He wants to have a safe New York, and ultimately, a safe New York in a great New York.” Later in the media conference, Trump doubled down on how Mamdani was keen to fight crime — echoing the emphasis on strong law enforcement that is a traditional Republican focus.

The US president also suggested that he agreed with Mamdani on housing.

“He said some very interesting things. He wants to see houses go up, a lot of apartments built,” Trump said. “People would be shocked, but I want to see the same thing.”

“I want to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump said. “A big help”.

Praise and banter

But the apparent camaraderie extended beyond policy issues, with Trump also repeatedly praising Mamdani.

“I think this mayor can do some things that are going to be really great,” he said at one point.

At another point, Trump said: “The better he does, the happier I am. I feel very confident that he can do a very good job.”

Trump spoke of Mamdani’s election campaign and how he went from just 1 percent in the polls to upsetting Cuomo, first in the Democratic Party’s primary and then in the actual election. “It’s an amazing thing that he did,” the president said.

A reporter asked Trump if he would be comfortable living in New York City under Mamdani’s mayorship.

“Yeah, I would, I really would,” Trump responded instantly. “Especially after the meeting. Absolutely.”

Towards the end of the media conference, Trump described his impression of Mamdani after their meeting.

“I met with a man who is a very rational person. I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again. I think he wants to make it greater than ever before.”

In one striking moment, Trump even gave Mamdani an easy out when the mayor-elect was asked by a reporter if he stood by his previous comments describing the president as a “despot” and “fascist”.

“That’s OK, you can just say ‘yes’,” Trump interjected. “It’s easier than explaining it.”

While striking a respectful tone when talking about Trump, Mamdani appeared to draw the line at actively praising him, with the compliments largely flowing one way.

Breaking from White House and GOP messaging

If the plan was to pivot away from boogeyman characterisations of Mamdani, key members of Trump’s administration and the Republican party weren’t given the message.

A day before the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that it “speaks volumes” that a “communist” was visiting the White House.

“That’s who the Democratic Party elected as the mayor of the largest city in the country,” she said.

Vice President JD Vance also joked on Thursday that he might “have a stomach bug” to avoid meeting Mamdani, who is set to take office on the first day of 2026.

Republican Senator Rick Scott also derided Mamdani as a “literal communist” on Friday morning, as he predicted Trump would “school” him at the White House later that day.

Trump, however, stayed away from any aggressive talk towards Mamdani, even going as far as to contradict members of his own party when he told reporters that he did not agree with Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s characterisation of Mamdani as a “jihadist”.

Following Trump’s comments, Stefanik, a New York Republican gubernatorial candidate, said, “We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.”

“If he walks like a jihadist, If he talks like a jihadist, If he campaigns like a jihadist, If he supports jihadists, He’s a jihadist,” she wrote on X.

Why Trump took a more conciliatory approach in this meeting, starkly breaking from previous Republican messaging on Mamdani, is impossible to tell.

But the meeting and the talk of affordability as a shared concern occurred at a time when Trump faces growing scrutiny over rising prices following months of tariffs.

Major schisms have appeared in the Republican party and the Trump MAGA movement in recent days and weeks – notably over the Epstein files scandal and over US support for Israel. On Friday, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, for long one of Trump’s staunchest supporters, and a champion of the MAGA movement, said she would resign from the House of Representatives in January, after a public clash with the US president.

Sidestepping Israel

One topic which which raised the spectre of creating a more awkward, confrontational atmosphere between Trump and Mamdani was Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

Asked by a reporter about previous comments he had made about the US government’s complicity in Israel’s assault, including the current administration, Mamdani didn’t shy away from reiterating this criticism – despite an awkward-looking Trump sitting silently next to him.

“I have spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide [in Gaza] and I’ve spoken about our government funding it,” he said. It is the first known occasion that Israel has been accused of genocide in Gaza within the walls of the White House, even if from an opponent of the current administration.

Mamdani, however, quickly pivoted back to his core message of the cost-of-living crisis in New York.

“I shared with the president in our meeting about the concerns that many New Yorkers have of wanting their tax dollars to go towards the benefit of New Yorkers and their ability to afford basic dignity,” he said.

“I also believe that we have to follow through on international human rights, and I know that still today those are being violated,” Mamdani added, without mentioning Gaza.