Felix Unger and Oscar Madison had nothing on these two: Where most outsiders expected a WWE main event, President Donald Trump and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani staged a total love-fest Friday afternoon, and good for them — and especially good for New York.
The meeting came after both politicians took shots at each other in recent months. AFP via Getty Images“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him, a big help because I want New York City to be great,” Trump insisted; Mamdani in turn cited “shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers.”
It was all accentuate-the-positive: They both want safer streets, lower rents, more housing — though the prez admitted, “we may disagree how we get there.”
Indeed, Don put the ball in Zoh’s court, pointedly noting as they wrapped up that Mamdani “has a chance to really do something great for New York.”
That, soon after the leader of the free world observed, “You’re at a really a turning point, one way the other. It can go great, or it can go in a different direction.”
So far, Mamdani’s actual moves are toward the center, not least in getting Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on; the president’s entirely right to hold his fire (and the National Guard!) until he has good reason otherwise, while the mayor-to-be needs to focus on actually delivering the affordability he’s promised.
Nobody who wanted to see these guys fight has New York City’s best interests at heart; we’ll be overjoyed if they find honorable ways for the lovefest to continue.
