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While President Donald Trump and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani doled out praise for each other after their White House huddle Friday, the two have previously not shied away from trading barbs in the past.
From “nut job” to “communist lunatic,” Trump over the past year has lobbed a series of attacks against Mamdani — targeting his appearance and intellect.
“He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart,” Trump said in a social media post in June after Mamdani became the Democratic candidate for mayor.
Trump once threatened to arrest Mamdani if he refused to comply with federal immigration officials. The comment came after Mamdani said in June that he would stop “masked” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials from “deporting our neighbors.”
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“Well, then we’ll have to arrest him,” Trump told reporters at the White House July 1. “Look, we don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over them very carefully on behalf of the nation. We send him money. We send him all the things that he needs to run a government.”
Also in July, Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting that New Yorkers shouldn’t vote for Mamdani, and described him as “a man who’s not very capable in my opinion, other than he’s got a good line of bulls—.”
Trump also has repeatedly called Mamdani a “communist” — a term that Mamdani said is a false characterization of his political ideology. Mamdani instead has said that he is a democratic socialist.
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Mamdani has had his fair share of harsh remarks in turn about the president. Mamdani labeled Trump a “despot” in his victory speech after winning New York’s mayoral election Nov. 4.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said. “And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.”
“This is not only how we stop Trump; it’s how we stop the next one,” Mamdani said. “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”
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Mamdani also said in a press conference Nov. 5 after the election that he would seek to “Trump-proof” New York in order to safeguard “those with the least from the consequences of a man with the most power in this country.”
However, the two appeared to forge a new path for their relationship as they found common ground on affordability issues and improving conditions in New York. Trump admitted that the two had more in common than he thought — despite their different views — and that he would be “cheering” for Mamdani as he leads the city.
“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him — a big help,” Trump said Friday.
Trump also brushed off Mamdani’s “despot” comment in the Oval Office Friday, claiming he’s faced worse and that he believes Mamdani will change his tune as the two work together.
“I’ve been called much worse than a ‘despot,’ so it’s not, it’s not that insulting. I think he’ll change his mind after we get to working together,” Trump said.
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