President Donald Trump has been trading texts with his favorite Democratic star, according to a new report.
Trump, 79, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, 34, recently texted back and forth, two sources told Axios. It was unclear what they discussed, and the White House and Mayor’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily Beast on Tuesday.
The two began texting soon after they exchanged numbers at their Oval Office lovefest in November, the outlet reported. It’s unknown how frequently they’ve been messaging each other.
Trump shocked his own allies when he met Mamdani with a warm welcome instead of a tense face-off. Fox News presented the meeting as a “showdown with socialism,” expecting a clash between the Republican president and the democratic socialist he had repeatedly blasted as a “communist,” but got thrown for a loop when Trump quickly got chummy with his newfound pal.
When Mamdani walked into the Oval Office on Nov. 21, Trump remarked, “Wow, you are even better looking in person than you are on TV,” according to New York magazine. The president, who rose to fame as a high-flying New York socialite and TV personality, famously loves good looks and being associated with winners.
At one point, Trump even let Mamdani call him a “fascist” while playfully patting the mayor on the arm.
The day after their meeting, Trump stepped out in an unusually snazzy outfit featuring a burgundy scarf draped around his neck, sending social media abuzz with jokes about a supposed attempt to match Mamdani’s style.
But it appears things have changed since then. At the start of the year, Mamdani said he called Trump to voice his opposition to the U.S. raid that captured Venezuelan autocrat Nicolás Maduro.
Trump told The New York Times last week that he was “surprised” by the criticism.
“I thought it was awfully quick for him to be criticizing,” he said. “We’ve had numerous conversations. We get along great. I thought it was quick to be criticized. I thought he’d wait at least a month.”
More cracks in the wall appeared on Monday afternoon, when Trump ripped into New York City’s congestion pricing as a “DISASTER.”
“It’s got to be ended, IMMEDIATELY! It’s never worked before, and it will never work now,” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “I love New York, and hate to see it being destroyed so rapidly with such obviously foolish ‘policy.’”
Early indicators have shown that pollution has dropped in parts of Manhattan and traffic has declined in the tolled zone after congestion pricing was introduced last January.
Trump presented Mamdani with a new hurdle on Tuesday when he announced that he plans to cut off federal funding for sanctuary cities at the end of the month.
“Starting February 1st, we’re not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens,” he said at a Detroit Economic Club event.
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