The Meeting of Titans

As expected, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed young New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to the White House. They transitioned from election campaigns and mutual attacks to collaborative work in a scene that highlighted the vitality of American democracy and principles of the rule of law. These principles elevate the value of public interest, strive to reach compromise and transform visionary programs, grand slogans and sometimes extremist ideas into moderation, pragmatic solutions and acceptance of diversity.

Indeed, we can learn from the lesson of the meeting between the U.S. president and the mayor of New York. This is because when both sides moved beyond the empty campaign slogans and the harsh accusations they leveled at each other, and entered a moment of establishing a relationship between an elected president and an elected mayor of a major city, their approach shifted toward moderation, and the rhetoric changed.

President Trump likes winners and the strong, even if they are his opponents. He respects a strong Russia and a strong Israel, even though it is a colonialist state. In addition, he likes China and deals with it in a manner unlike any allied country he perceives as weak. Therefore, he places Mamdani in the category of strong winners, having won in the first round of elections by a landslide, defeating those Trump supported. In Trump’s view, Mamdani has become the victorious and powerful candidate he seeks to engage with, regardless of whether or not the democratic system compels him to do so. Thus, Trump is a man of the strong and the victorious.

Consequently, it was no surprise that Trump said his previous description of Mamdani as a "jihadist" was related to the election. On the contrary, Trump found Mamdani to be a completely rational person striving to restore prosperity to New York City. He ascribed new attributes to the new mayor, calling him reasonable and fantastic.

Trump downplayed his prior threat to cut federal funding to the city, saying, "I expect to be helping him, not hurting him." He emphasized that his meeting with Mamdani actually surprised him and that they agreed on issues relating to crime and housing, though they may differ on how to approach them.

It is noteworthy that some of Trump's supporters voted for Mamdani. Although they are a minority, this reflects how a segment of the voters prioritized the candidate’s platform over political ideas and orientation. Additionally, the political and media talents of both men were evident, despite their differences and generation gap. Trump retracted his description of Mamdani as a "jihadist." Mamdani was about to address his description of Trump as a "fascist" before Trump interrupted him, saying, "It’s ok, you could just say yes. I don’t mind." Moreover, Mamdani’s remarks blaming U.S. military support for Israel for not only contributing to genocide but also being borne by American taxpayers cleverly linked the deterioration of people’s living conditions to support for Israel.

Despite the challenges and disagreements between the two men, they have demonstrated the ability to work together in the public interest — a fundamental tenet of American democracy and the rule of law.