Mamdani’s meeting with Trump was risky — and dangerous

Across the political spectrum, with alarm on the right and delight on the left, the display of warmth from Donald Trump toward Zohran Mamdani on Friday set off shock waves. The president’s lavish praise of the New York City mayor-elect in the Oval Office was a 180-degree turn from his condemnation of the democratic socialist as “a pure true communist” and “a total nut job.” The stunning reversal made for a great political drama. But what does it portend? 

Trump and his MAGA followers are hardly going to forsake their standard mix of bigotry, anti-immigrant mania and other political toxins. Demagoguery has long fueled the Republican engine — and in the 11 months until the midterm elections, skullduggery to thwart democracy promises to accelerate rather than slow down.

While countless media outlets have marveled at the appearance of a sudden Trump-Mamdani “bromance,” the spectacle has rekindled hopes that America can become less polarized and find more common ground. But what kind of common ground can — or should — be found with the leader of today’s fascistic GOP? 

It’s true that Mamdani has a huge stake in diverting the Trump bull from goring New York. Billions of dollars are at stake in federal aid to the city, and New York would be thrown into a chaotic crisis if the president were to make good on his threats to send in federal troops. Mamdani seems to have deftly prevented such repressive actions against his city, at least for a while.

Understandably, the mayor-elect’s main concern is his upcoming responsibility for New York and its 8.5 million residents. But as important as the Big Apple is, Trump’s draconian and dictatorial orders nationwide are also at stake. It’s unclear that the chemistry between the two leaders will do anything at all to help protect immigrants in Chicago, Charlotte, Portland, Los Angeles — or anywhere else in the country.

The president’s accolades for a leftist certainly confounded the perennial left-bashers at Fox News and many other right-wing outlets, and such discombobulation among pro-MAGA media operatives has been a pleasure to behold. But there’s more than a wisp of wishful thinking in the air from progressives eager to believe that Trump’s effusive statements about Mamdani, an avowed socialist, will help to legitimize socialism for the American public.

Trump’s turnaround might cause some Americans to reconsider their anti-left reflexes. But it’s also plausible that ripple effects of the episode could help to legitimize, in some people’s eyes, the president’s leadership even while it continues to inflict horrific policies and anti-democratic politics on the country. Gracious and avuncular performances by despots are nothing new, as when Trump hosted Bill Maher at the White House last spring and the comedian returned the favor by proclaiming that the president had been “gracious and measured.” Neither are cosmetics on the face of a fascist.

A hazard is that the image of Trump as a tolerant, open-minded president, in convivial discourse with New York’s progressive leader, could undercut the solid accusations that Trump is imposing tyrannical policies on America. Just a day before he met with Mamdani, the president seemed to suggest executing several congressional Democrats who filmed a video reminding U.S. military personnel of their duty to not obey illegal orders.

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The most publicized few seconds of the public portion of Trump and Mamdani’s meeting came when a journalist asked about the mayor-elect’s past charge that the president is a fascist. The exchange was widely reported as an amusing moment, as Trump quipped that Mamdani should just say yes and affirm that the president is a fascist.

But the danger of normalizing autocracy is heightened when the utterly serious appraisal of Trump as a fascist can be recast as a media punchline.

Over the weekend, Mamdani stood his ground during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He pointed out that he had replied “yes” to the reporter’s question about Trump being a fascist. “Everything that I’ve said in the past, I continue to believe,” he added. 

How long Mamdani will remain in Trump’s good graces is anyone’s guess. No doubt the mayor-elect is fully aware that the president could turn on him with a vengeance. If Trump can do that to one of his most loyal ideological fighters, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, he can certainly do it to Mamdani.

To call Trump “mercurial” is a vast understatement. And yet, in countless ways, with his rhetoric and with the power of the presidency, he has been unwavering and consistent — as immigrants being terrorized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and single mothers trying to feed their families know all too well. Given all the harm his policies are doing every minute, it would be unwise to take seriously Trump’s broken-clock pronouncements that are occasionally accurate and decent.

Democratic socialists don’t need Trump’s approval. We need to defeat his MAGA agenda and movement. Right now, it’s unclear whether what happened with him and Mamdani in the Oval Office will make that defeat any more likely.

Mamdani and Trump found each other newly useful last Friday. Only later will we know who was more effectively using whom.

While it’s all well and good to laud Mamdani’s extraordinary political talents and inspiring leadership for social justice, at the same time we should recognize that he has entered into an embrace with a rattlesnake. Even when it purrs, it’s still a rattlesnake.