One meeting with Trump won't melt Zohran Mamdani? New York Mayor-elect says POTUS still a 'fascist'

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Sunday (Nov 23) defended his astonishingly warm meeting with President Donald Trump, saying the sudden display of friendliness does not change his long-held view that Trump is a "fascist" and a "despot". During an interview, Mamdani said his political stance remains unchanged despite the unexpectedly cordial White House encounter that unfolded on Friday.

Mamdani still believes Trump is a 'fascist'

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Mamdani insisted, "Everything that I've said in the past, I continue to believe." He said, "I'm not coming into the Oval Office to make a point or make a stand. I'm coming in there to deliver for New Yorkers."

Trump-Mamdani feud

The pair had spent months exchanging bitter public attacks before Mamdani's sweeping election victory earlier this month. Trump repeatedly mocked the Democratic socialist, once calling him a "100% Communist Lunatic," and threatening to deport him. Meanwhile, Mamdani had accused the president of dismantling American democracy and waging a "war on working people."

But their first face-to-face meeting shocked observers. Originally expected to occur behind closed doors, the session was opened to the press after what aides described as unexpectedly smooth discussions. Cameras captured Trump grinning beside Mamdani and fielding questions as though the two were longtime allies.

At one point, reporters asked Mamdani if he still believed Trump was a fascist. Before he could answer, Trump cut in, telling him, "That's ok, you can just say it. It's easier, it's easier than explaining it."

Mamdani told NBC that "After President Trump said that, I said, 'Yes'," adding that neither man shied away from their disagreements during their talk.

"What I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment," he said. "And we also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver on a shared analysis of an affordability crisis for New Yorkers".