It was supposed to be the biggest Oval Office showdown since Zelensky. Or at least since Elon’s kid wiped a bogey on the Resolute Desk. It did not go as expected
Donald Trump just held the weirdest Oval Office meeting since returning to the White House. And not for any of the reasons people expected. Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of the Socialist Republic of New York City, raised a LOT of eyebrows yesterday when he announced he was about to hop a flight to Washington to meet with Trump. Mamdani called Trump out by name in his victory speech at the start of the month, and more recently has been branding him a “despot” and a “fascist”. Likewise Trump has called Mamdani a “communist” and a disaster for New York, despite little evidence he is either of those things. But the meeting happened this afternoon and, like a headline that will get you banned from Facebook, you’ll never believe what happened next.
Meanwhile in Trumpworld
- Trump showered Mamdani with praise
- Mamdani called Trump a fascist
- Ukraine has a week to give Putin exactly what he wants
- Now you can buy a Trump gun
- Trump’s weird football photo-op
- Ghislaine’s keeping schtum
Here’s everything you need to know
1. This was…unexpected
Trump vs Mamdani was widely expected to be the biggest Oval Office clash since Trump v Zelensky. Or at least since that time Elon’s kid wiped snot on the Resolute Desk. I myself may have suggested it was a TRAP, FROM WHICH NO GOOD CAN COME.
Instead, what we saw was…cordial. Not quite friendly, but it was bordering on that. Trump showered Mamdani with compliments. Mamdani politely explained to Trump how he poached 10% of his voters in New York earlier this month. Both returned to areas of agreement (at lest on paper) – housing, the cost of living. Neither of them walked back anything they’d said about the other – more of which later – but neither was there a slanging match. It was…the weirdest possible outcome of these two men meeting.
2. If you think we’re exaggerating, watch this
Trump was asked what it would take for him to choke off funding for New York, he changed his tune a little bit from previous pronouncements. “Well if we didn’t get along,” he said, indicating it would depend on the Mayor’s policies, not his perceived socialist ideology. “Whether it’s cut off, or make it a little bit difficult, or not as much. We use the term ‘we don’t want to see good money after bad.” He went on to say he was surprised at what happened in the meeting.
“He wants to see no crime. He wants to see housing being built. He wants to see rents coming down. All the things that I agree with. We may disagree how we get there, the rent coming down, I think one of the things I really gleaned very much today, he’d like it see them come down, but building a lot of additional housing – that’s the ultimate way. He agrees with that and so do I. When you read the newspapers, you don’t see that.”
3. Mamdani called him a fascist
Mamdani was, of course, asked about comments he’s made in recent weeks, describing Trump as a “despot” and a “fascist.” Trump joked: “I’ve been called worse than a despot. That’s not much of an insult.” Asked to confirm whether he thinks President Trump is a fascist, Mamdani began speaking about what they’d discussed in the meeting. But Trump interrupted, laughing and saying: “That’s OK, you can just say it. It’s easier than explaining.”
Mamdani turned back to the reporter and said: “OK. Yes, then.” Trump just…kind of smiled and brushed it off. It was so weird.
4. Silence from Republicans over Trump’s call for Democrats to be put to death
Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat House member representing Pennsylvania says she has yet to hear from one Republican colleague expressing concern about Trump’s social media post accusing her and five other Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH.” “Not a single member has reached out to me, either publicly or privately,” Houlahan said Friday morning at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol. “And with this I am profoundly disappointed in my colleagues.”
She said she was “dumbfounded by the silence” and viewed Trump’s remarks as a threat against her life and an explicit embrace of political violence. Houlahan, an Air Force veteran, made the comments as part of a news conference promoting a bill that would prohibit the administration from spending any funds sending U.S. troops into direct hostilities with Venezuela.
5. Ukraine has until Thursday to agree to Trump’s plan to give Putin exactly what he wants
Trump has given Ukraine a week to decide whether they’re on board with his plan to hand Vladimir Putin, an aggressor who invaded a sovereign nation in flagrant breach of international law, bits of Ukraine. And more or less everything he’s asked for.
Trump’s plan to end the war contains many of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longstanding demands while offering limited security guarantees to Ukraine. It foresees Ukraine handing over territory to Russia, something Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out, reduces the size of it army and blocks its coveted path to NATO membership.
It does not say “No, Mr Putin. You don’t get to invade other countries and ask for more.” On the other hand it does reward bad behaviour in a way that will almost certainly send a terrible message to other rogue nations.
“This is one of the most difficult moments in our history,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address to the nation. “Currently, the pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may now face a very difficult choice, either losing its dignity or the risk of losing a key partner.” Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s national interest “must be taken into account” in talks over the proposal, and vowed to work constructively. “We do not make loud statements, we will work calmly with America and all partners,” Zelenskyy said. “There will be a constructive search for solutions with our main partner.”
6. Now you can buy a Trump gun
In the latest wildly inappropriate thing to write a US President’s name on. Fox News is running commercials for a Trump branded handgun. Gunmakers Bond Arms have, it seems, licensed Trump’s likeness and name and slapped it on the “Living Legend DT47”. Yours for just $545.47.
7. Trump posted his very natural and not at all staged phot with his grandson
Remember playing catch with your Grandpa? Remember how you and he would stand no more than five feet apart, and he’d toss you the ball, underarm, while pointing near, but not quite at you? And how you’d play catch not on the expansive and well kept lawn next to your house, but on a paved walkway? In fact, you’d stand right next to a wall on which 47 probably quite expensive – and almost certainly glass – picture frames are hung in a long line at head height? Happy memories.
8. Ghislaine’s keeping schtum
In not at all unexpected news, Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers say she won’t be co-operating with the House Oversight Committee’s Epstein probe. Her legal team said she would invoke her Fifth Amendment rights if she was asked questions by Congressional investigators, according to the Committee’s chair, James Comer. “Her lawyers have replied that she’s not going to answer any questions,” Comer said. “She’s only going to plead the Fifth. I mean, I could spend a bunch of taxpayer dollars to send staff and members down there, and if she’s going to plead the Fifth, I don’t know that that’s a good investment.”