Trump, Mamdani Are Apparently Texting Buddies

Texting pals probably wasn't what anyone expected the relationship between Zohran Mamdani and President Trump to evolve into. However, the Republican president and the democratic socialist New York City mayor have been trading messages at least twice a week since their cordial Oval Office sit-down in November, according to multiple sources who describe the tone of the texts as "friendly" to the New York Post. Their conversation subjects reportedly range from New York zoning issues to the US effort to depose Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

The regular, direct contact is a notable break from how recent New York mayors have dealt with presidents. Even Mamdani's predecessor, Eric Adams—who made a point of aligning himself with Trump and hastened to attend his inauguration—relied on go-betweens rather than personal texts, insiders say. One political operative framed the new dynamic bluntly: It makes little political sense for the two men to feud in private when Washington has leverage over billions in federal funding for the city.

Andrew Kirtzman, head of communications firm KSX, called it "remarkable" that Trump appears so at ease with a left-wing mayor, noting his open hostility toward former Mayor Bill de Blasio. Kirtzman suggested Trump feels "an emotional connection" with Mamdani, predicting that Mamdani's democratic socialist base is likely to tolerate the relationship by viewing it as transactional rather than ideological.

Publicly, both men still maintain sharp policy differences, and some of the bloom appears to have worn off the rose, per Axios. In a recent New York Times interview, when asked whether he still enjoyed a "good" relationship with Mamdani, Trump answered, "Well, I did, but he hit me sooner than I thought," referring to the mayor's criticism of the US incursion into Venezuela. Trump said that "it was awfully quick for [Mamdani] to be criticizing" him, adding that he'd thought the mayor would wait "at least a month." The president then added: "We've had numerous conversations. We get along great."