Friedland asked whether Mamadani had expected Trump to like him as much as the president had.

“I was trying to prepare for a lot of different situations,” he said. “It honestly felt like the most productive meeting we could have had.”

The president appeared to favor Mamdani during and after the meeting, noting that Trump said the socialist, whom he’s called a “communist” multiple times, would be a “great” mayor. The president even gave Mamdani permission to call him a “fascist” and said he would “stick up” for him on taking a plane instead of a train to Washington, D.C.

“I think this mayor is going to be doing some things that are really great,” Trump said.

Mamdani said they spoke about Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, groceries, Con Edison, rent, and child care — all issues that touch on affordability. They also discussed about how 1-in-10 Mamdani voters also cast a ballot for the president and how the socialist’s campaign began to take off when he spoke to Trump voters about their top issues early this year.

Friedland said the Trump-Mamdani meeting was one of the most “surreal” things he had ever seen.

Many felt the same way, and it left the political world searching for an explanation behind the president’s admiration of Mamdani.

“My best guess is that it’s because Trump respects people who have actual political talent/charisma, have authentic alpha energy when going up against him (‘turn the volume up!’) & are compelling on TV/social media. Mamdani checks all three boxes. Schumer & Jeffries check none,” pollster Adam Carlson wrote on X.

“Plus on some level I genuinely think he has a fondness for NYC still and wants it to thrive,” he added.

Mamdani also shed light on other aspects of the meeting. He said he was guided to the Oval Office, where he then saw a visualization of the UFC fight set to take place at the White House. Friedland asked him if he was going to go to the fight next year.

“No,” Mamdani laughed.

He said the president showed him the portrait of President Franklin Delano-Roosevelt, which Mamdani called “beautiful.”

“We talked about FDR for a little bit. And honestly, you don’t have the LaGuardia record if you don’t have FDR,” he said, referring to former New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.

BESSENT SAYS MAMDANI IS ‘CLEARLY’ A LEADER IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY AFTER ‘GREAT CAMPAIGN’

Friedland said he couldn’t stop laughing during the meeting as the pair’s appearance skewed toward bizarre. Mamdani said he could keep a straight face because he was thinking about how the White House would influence New York City. The mayor-elect appeared stoic through much of the meeting.

“I was just thinking about New York City,” he said, “The whole time I was trying to think about the difference between if you have a White House that is working towards an affordability agenda, or one that’s making it harder to live in the city.”