Mamdani wooed the president with much property talk and showed the real ‘art of the deal’ might have been soft power via Photoshop
In the hours after Zohran Mamdani met with Donald Trump for an undisclosed sit-down in the Oval Office on Thursday, a meme quickly circulated on X.
It resembled the screengrab of a TikToker who doles out dubious financial advice, but instead had the mayor’s picture front and center. On the left it read “I receive 12,000 homes” and “the release of a constituent kidnapped by ICE” and on the right “you receive fake newspaper cover”.
It was a neat summary of two unexpected wins Mamdani seemed to clinch in Washington for little in return, as part of an unexpectedly congenial relationship that continues to grow between city hall and the White House. Mamdani’s office later confirmed the mayor pitched a proposal to secure $21bn in federal grants to make good on a central promise to create more citywide affordable housing. This would include the construction of a deck over the busy rail yard in Sunnyside, Queens to build 12,000 housing units. The president appeared “enthusiastic”, according to the mayor’s chief spokesperson.
This post is like when I’m at the exit at Costco ready to get my items checked by the lady with the pen and my wife will say something like “ha ha! Look we got two milks but he only charged us for one!”…dude! Wait until were at the car in the freeway! I don’t want guilt for something I haven’t done yet but I was accidentally about to do while someone shouts about it out loud in front of an authority figure. Wait until you’re out in the open far the fuck away from the scene. LOL.