On Friday afternoon, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani met with President Donald Trump in the White House, followed by a 30-minute press conference from the Oval Office. The event was a grotesque love-fest, during which Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), declared a “partnership” and a pledge to “work together” with the fascist Trump.

It is necessary to memorialize the exchanges that took place, as they should be a defining experience for workers and young people undergoing a process of political radicalization. 

Trump began by congratulating Mamdani for his electoral victory, declaring, “The better he does, the happier I am” and “there is no difference in party.” He added that “we are going to be helping [Mamdani] to make everybody’s dream come true.” Mamdani responded in kind, describing the meeting as “productive” and “focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City.”

The two said that their meeting prior to the press conference was focused on “affordability,” with Mamdani declaring that he would work with Trump to address the cost-of-living crisis. “I am looking forward to delivering for New Yorkers in partnership with the president,” Mamdani said. Later, he compared the prospective partnership to FDR and the New Deal.

This of an administration that is carrying out an unrelenting assault on the working class, slashing food stamps, threatening Social Security and Medicare, destroying public education, waging a war on public health and orchestrating the largest transfer of wealth from the working class to the oligarchy in American history. 

On the assault on immigrants, Mamdani stood silently as Trump defended his brutal round up of workers in violent raids throughout the country. Mamdani, Trump said, wants the same thing. “He wants to have a safe New York … If there are horrible people, we want to get them out … He wants to get them out more than I do,” Trump said. 

Mamdani did not contradict the fascist claim that immigrants are “horrible people” or challenge the Border Patrol’s illegal deployment in Charlotte or other cities. Asked about his past criticisms of ICE as a “rogue agency,” Mamdani mumbled something about “allowing the New York City government to work with the federal government,” adding that he and Trump “discussed ICE and NYC.” 

On the police, Trump praised Mamdani for “retaining a great police commissioner”—a reference to Jessica Tisch, the scion of the billionaire Tisch family, who is closely tied to Trump’s family. Tisch is infamous for imposing a massive surveillance regime and declaring any criticism of the war in Gaza to be antisemitic. Mamdani nodded in agreement, while pledging to maintain the number of police officers and “making it easier for police to focus on police work.”

On the genocide itself, which was a major factor behind his support in the election, Mamdani backed the administration’s moves to facilitate the Israeli occupation and annexation of Gaza under the framework of a fraudulent ceasefire: “The concern of New Yorkers [is] to have our tax dollars go to New Yorkers,” Mamdani said, adding that he “appreciate[s] all efforts toward peace.” At the very end of the press conference, Mamdani declared his determination to “root out antisemitism”—legitimizing the lie that opposition to the genocide is antisemitic. 

Mamdani bent over backwards to avoid any mild criticism of Trump. Asked about past statements calling Trump a despot, Mamdani dodged. “We are very clear about our positions and views … What I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting we had was focused not on issues of disagreements, but also on the shared purpose we have.”

At one point, Mamdani was asked directly by a reporter about his previous statements that Trump is a fascist. After fumbling for a reply, Mamdani allowed Trump to respond for him: “That’s OK, you can just say it. It is easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.” Trump then patted Mamdani on the arm, as Mamdani smiled. Thus the pair jointly agreed that Trump is a fascist, but that this would be no hindrance to their blooming “partnership.”

Loading Tweet ...

Tweet not loading? See it directly on Twitter

When asked about the House resolution condemning socialism—passed just hours before his meeting with Trump with bipartisan support, including a vote by Hakeem Jeffries and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership—Mamdani offered a dismissive response. “I focus very little on resolutions,” he said. While insisting, “I am a democratic socialist,” he quickly added that while “there might be differences about ideology … the place of agreement is the work that needs to be done to make New York affordable.” 

Thus spoke Mamdani. 

The Mamdani-Trump meeting took place amid an escalating political crisis confronting the Trump administration, including deep divisions within the Republican Party over Trump’s personal involvement in the Epstein scandal. Trump also confronts mounting popular opposition. In North Carolina, tens of thousands of students have participated in walkouts and sick-outs in defense of immigrant families. Only a month earlier, millions participated in the “No Kings” demonstrations against dictatorship and fascism.

The administration’s response to this growing crisis has been to double down on repression at home and war abroad. One day before Mamdani’s visit, Trump publicly accused six Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior” that is “punishable by death,” for issuing a video stating that military troops are obliged not to carry out illegal orders. 

Among those targeted are former military and intelligence officials—an indication that within these layers there is knowledge of Trump’s plans for criminal actions, including the deployment of the military throughout the United States. Mamdani did not even mention these threats let alone denounce them.

The meeting could only benefit Trump, granting legitimacy to an administration that is deeply discredited and under siege. It should be seen in the context of the decision by the Democratic Party two weeks ago to end the government shutdown on Trump’s terms and bail out his administration. 

From the DSA and the pseudo-left as a whole, driven by class interests and inestimable pragmatism, there is no act, no matter how despicable, they will not justify. Responding to a statement from Fox News that the meeting was a “Showdown with Socialism,” the DSA wrote on Friday evening, “Socialism won!” Mamdani’s praise for the aspiring dictator is presented as some sort of masterful tactical maneuver that is winning Trump over to a policy of social reform.

What a fraud! Mamdani’s prostration before Trump will serve to confuse his supporters and undermine the very radicalism that swept him into office. As for Mamdani himself, while presently beaming in the praise from “honest, honest Trump,” he can quickly find that, if he does not behave himself quite to Trump’s liking, he will again be the subject of vicious denunciations and threats of violence.

As rotten as all this is, there is nothing surprising about it. Prior to the election, the World Socialist Web Site wrote that “should Mamdani win, he has already demonstrated in the course of his campaign that there will be very little difference between a mayoralty headed by himself and one headed by Cuomo.” In less than a month’s time, Mamdani has proved that, if anything, this was an understatement.

It is not, however, just a question of Mamdani the individual, but of a definite political perspective, the perspective promoted by the DSA, Jacobin magazine and the entire pseudo-left, in the US and internationally, the perspective of enacting change within the institutions of the state. How many times must this experience be repeated? Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain, Mélenchon in France, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the United States. And now Mamdani.

In class terms, Mamdani’s declaration of a “shared purpose” with Trump represents the upper middle class that the DSA speaks for aligning itself with the oligarchy for which Trump governs. These forces are more afraid of social revolution than they are of fascism, serve only to demoralize and disorient and function as an increasingly critical prop of capitalist rule.

Everyone who supported Mamdani and who opposes the Gaza genocide, attacks on immigrants and the assault on the working class has to get serious and sober about these developments. The fight for socialism and opposition to the oligarchy will not come through such forces, but in relentless struggle against them.

The conclusion that must be drawn by all those who take socialism seriously, who are committed to a fight against fascism and for the interests of the working class and the survival of humanity, is the need to build a genuine revolutionary movement, the Socialist Equality Party.