Zohran Mamdani singled out President Donald Trump’s reading materials as among the “weirdest” things he saw at the White House during an even weirder meeting.
The New York City mayor-elect, 34, appeared on an episode of The Adam Friedland Show on Monday, where he discussed Friday’s meeting with Trump in the Oval Office.
At one point, host Friedland asked Mamdani: “What was the weirdest thing [Trump] showed you?”
“I sit down, waiting for the time of the meeting, and in front of me are all of these different coffee-table books,” Mamdani said. “And one of them is UFC at the White House. I had no idea, and I was just flippin’, flippin’ through that.”
“Oh yeah, he’s bringing it there, right? Are you gonna go?” Friedland responded, referring to the White House UFC event planned for June 2026.
The mayor-elect replied with a firm “No.”
Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, made waves with his meeting with Trump on Friday. The Muslim mayor-elect stood by his previous comments calling the president a “fascist” and a “despot”—refusing to back down when pressed by reporters on his statements.
The president even came to his aid, surprising everyone when he told Mamdani not to answer a question about calling Trump a fascist. “That’s OK, you can just say yes,” Trump said. “It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”
Friedland remarked on this exchange, asking Mamdani how he kept a straight face during the press conference.
“We were all dying, and I’m like, my boy Zohran was like, straight face. [Trump] said, ‘Just tell them yes,” Friedland said. “How’d you keep that face?”
Mamdani smiled, telling Friedland, “Honestly, I was just thinking about New York City.”
The president had previously called Mamdani a “communist lunatic” and “not very smart.” But Trump called Friday’s meeting “very good” and “productive,” highlighting that the two had a lot more in common than they thought.
Trump, 79, said he would “absolutely” feel comfortable living in New York City under Mamdani, and even rebuked MAGA faithful New York governor hopeful Elise Stefanik, who called Mamdani a “jihadist.”
When asked if he agreed with Stefanik’s assessment of Mamdani, he replied, “No, I don’t. She’s out there campaigning. You say things sometimes on a campaign.”
Mamdani’s effort to meet with the president proved a success when Trump backed down from sending federal troops into the city—a significant reversal of his previous stance to “clean up the crime” and “save New York City.”
When asked on Saturday if he was still considering deploying National Guard troops to New York City, Trump said, “If they need it. Right now, other places need it more. We had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that. But if they need it, I would do it.”
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