Anyone expecting a showdown when Trump met Mamdani got a pretty big surprise

Trump versus Mamdani was billed as the big showdown. 

But for anyone anticipating fireworks, it was the big let down – less “fight night” and more “date night”.

Fox News might have had it right when their presenter turned to camera and said: “I think [Vice President] JD Vance is jealous.”

For this Oval Office spectacle, Donald Trump was choreographer-in-chief.

It was no fireside chat for New York City’s mayor-elect, but an invitation to stand at the end of the Resolute Desk.

This is where the president places guests asking for a selfie – and it has the look of being summoned to the headmaster’s office. Maybe that was the plan.

The talk had been of a Zelenskyy-esque meltdown in the White House.

These men appeared to harbour an extreme dislike for the other – each eyeing the other as a foe. It was intense.

Trump had railed against “communist” Mamdani (he’s actually a Democratic socialist) and threatened to have the Ugandan-born politician arrested and deported.

For his part, Mamdani had branded Trump a “fascist” and spoke of “Trump-proofing” New York.

And yet, fast forward to the Oval Office. Against a backdrop of hate came an outbreak of harmony. Seated and standing, it was all smiles and pragmatic talk by two New Yorkers talking about home and how to improve. Two men from Queens had common ground and it bonded them.

Suddenly, Trump’s threat to withhold $10bn (£7.6bn) from the city if Mamdani won felt so last month.

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Journalists’ questions were spikier than the answers. Mamdani was asked about calling Trump a fascist.

“You could just say yes,” the president told him.

He joked: “I’ve been called much worse than a despot.”

Even authoritarianism got a laugh amidst the bonhomie.

Trump answered “no” when asked if he viewed Mamdani as a “jihadist” – a description used by an ally running for New York governor.

“I met with a man who’s a very rational person,” Trump said. “I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again.”

So far, so amiable. In each other’s company, we didn’t see an outbreak of political conflict, the like of which both men are capable.

Many in the Democratic movement see Mamdani as a man who has found the secret ingredients to reversing their decline against Trump’s Republican Party.

New York City’s mayor-elect, a well-known football fan, headed home in a DC ambience – this, clearly, not a day for aggro or for showing his hand.

There will be others soon enough.