Trump says Mamdani will be 'a really great mayor' of New York City (Yes, really)

After meeting at the White House, Trump and Mamdani had nice things to say about each other.

Good afternoon — It’s Friday and World Television Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• President Donald J. Trump and Zohran Mamdani emerged from their meeting at the White House Friday with compliments and common ground.

• Remember Jeff Klein, former IDC leader in the state Senate? New York’s ethics agency finally closed its sexual harassment probe into him Friday.

• The operator of New York’s energy grid said Friday it was at an ‘inflection point,’ with aging fossil fuel infrastructure placing strain on demand.

• New York Attorney General Letitia James now has a second Republican challenger as she heads into reelection in 2026.

Names in today’s CapCon: Zohran Mamdani, Donald J. Trump, Jeff Klein, Erica Vladimer, NYISO, IPPNY, Earthjustice, Letitia James, Michael Henry, Khurram Dara

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Today’s Capitol Confidential is sponsored by Food & Water Watch.

Tell Governor Hochul to sign the Legislature’s repeal of the 100-foot rule. New Yorkers shouldn’t have to subsidize new gas hookups. End this outdated giveaway and cut costs for families. — Food & Water Watch

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Mamdani and Trump on Friday (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)

😀 Trump and Mamdani find common ground after White House meeting

I don’t think anyone expected what came out of the meeting Friday between President Donald J. Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

“It was a great meeting,” Trump said alongside Mamdani while speaking with reporters in the Oval Office after their meeting.

Trump said several times this year that New York City would fall if Mamdani won the election. Mamdani has called Trump a fascist and campaigned on opposing his agenda as president.

That tension was nowhere to be found when Trump and Mamdani emerged from the meeting Friday afternoon.

“I think you’re going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor,” Trump said.

Yes, these are actually things that he said.

Trump was complimentary of Mamdani’s desire to rapidly build more housing in New York City as a strategy for reducing the cost of living in the five boroughs. With more supply, rent and home prices are expected to decrease.

“It was a productive meeting focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City, and the need to deliver affordability to New Yorkers,” Mamdani said.

They also agreed that energy prices were too high and instead of blaming policies implemented by Democrats, Trump took aim at Con Edison, the utility supplier in New York City.

“We’ve gotten fuel prices way down but it hasn’t shown up in Con Edison and we’re going to have to talk to them,” Trump said. Mamdani nodded alongside him.

They’re also aligned on the basic goal of reducing crime in New York City, though it’s unclear if they got into specifics on strategies for that. A reporter tried to bait Trump into a public disagreement about the role of police but he didn’t take it.

“That’s going to be, ultimately, the mayor’s decision,” Trump said.

That was kind of the whole theme of the gaggle after the meeting. Almost every reporter tried to bait Trump and Mamdani into a public argument over a variety of topics.

“I feel very confident that he can do a very good job,” Trump said. “I think he’s going to surprise some conservative people, actually.”

We even heard Trump’s first words on the race for governor but they may not be the words that U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul, wanted to hear.