President Donald Trump appears to be hurt that the Democratic mayor of New York doesn’t support his military operation in Venezuela.
The 79-year-old has been on a high since American forces swept into Caracas last weekend to capture President Nicolás Maduro, promising to get Venezuelan crude flowing again under the control of U.S. oil companies.
Most commentators outside of the MAGAsphere condemned the raid as an assault on a sovereign nation, even if they conceded that Maduro was indeed a socialist dictator. But for Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist elected as New York City’s first Muslim mayor in November, it was “an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.”
“This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home,” Mamdani added in a statement after the news broke.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity that aired on Thursday, Trump said he was surprised by the pushback from Mamdani, with whom he enjoyed a surprisingly jovial Oval Office meeting back in November.
Hannity teased that “your favorite mayor” spoke out against the operation. “We have a nice relationship, but I thought it would take at least maybe a month or two months before he went after me,” Trump responded.
“He hit me on the attack on Venezuela, which is pretty unusual because not too many people have hit us. That was a perfect attack,” he added, before rolling off the merits of the operation.
The 79-year-old also lamented Mamdani’s response in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on his eponymous radio show. “You know, I met him, he came to the Oval Office, and we’ve had some nice conversations and very good. And then he hit me a little bit on the tremendous victory—and you would say it was a tremendous victory—on Venezuela,” he said.
“And I said, ‘Gee, I thought he would have at least waited a month.’ I was surprised that he hit me on that, but he did. So what are you going to do? I expected it. I just thought it would be maybe three or four weeks instead of immediately, because I do get along with him.”
Trump added, “He’s got a great personality, he’s a nice guy. His policies are not good, but maybe he changes. You know, that’s what I would view, because I want to do everything I can to help New York… I hope New York will thrive. But typically, those policies… in history, those policies have never worked.”
After trading fierce insults both ahead of and after Mamdani’s sweeping victory at the polls, Mamdani and Trump stunned the nation with a White House meeting that could not have been more cordial.
Trump complimented Mamdani and even shielded him from certain questions during the November event.
The post Trump Hurt That His Favorite Dem Was Mean About His Invasion appeared first on The Daily Beast.
