United States President Donald Trump and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani held surprisingly cordial talks in the White House on Friday, defying expectations of a potentially tense meeting between the Republican billionaire and the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist.The warmth displayed came in stark contrast to the barbs the pair have exchanged in recent months. Trump has caricatured Mamdani as an anti-Semitic communist, even threatening to strip him of his US citizenship, while Mamdani called Trump a “despot” in his election victory speech just weeks ago.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listBut the pair appeared to put these seemingly irrevocable differences aside – for one day at least – with Trump describing the “great meeting” as “really productive” when talking to reporters in the Oval Office with Mamdani standing by his side.With many left unsure of what to make of the bizarrely chummy meeting between the political polar opposites, here are a few key takeaways:Finding common groundTrump and Mamdani exuded friendliness in their first get-together since the 34-year-old beat Democratic establishment party figures earlier this month, notably former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, to become New York City’s mayor-elect.Mamdani said ahead of his meeting with Trump that he was willing to “meet with anyone” to push forward his affordability agenda for the US’s largest city, saying that he and Trump shared some common ground in that they ran campaigns focused on the cost-of-living cr …
