Analysis: Trump and Mamdani Oval Office Meeting

Now for analysis of the Trump Mandani meeting. Joining us on the panel is Angie Wong, Republican strategist and columnist. Uh as well as Robin Bro, Democratic strategist and former Obama regional campaign director. So first of all, thank you both for joining us today. Angie, I would like to start with you. So, we were streaming the meeting between President Trump, actually the postmeating press conference, and and it seemed to me they were much friendlier to each other uh than previously. So, Angie, just give us your first thoughts of the tone of the press conference after this meeting. >> Yes, this was the best possible outcome you can imagine for for two people with such opposite ends of political ideology to come together at the Oval Office to have a real discussion. And I think President Trump said it just right is that they both have one commonality which is to protect New York to make sure that New York City thrives as a city that is our world city. Uh if New York City falls, the rest of the country falls. So I'm very happy to see that they have a that they had a very productive meeting and that things are going to move smoothly going forward. I think both men got something out of this meeting. Of course, we were privy to the finer details, but it looks as though they both walked away very happy and with a working relationship. That must be a thorn to some of the Democrats side, but I like this. This is exactly how a president should behave and this is how a mayor elect should behave as well. >> So, Robin, let me go to you. Your thoughts on uh Democratic socialist Amdani uh and his meeting with President Trump today. First of all, I'm glad that the president took this meeting because he didn't have to. Mom Donnie requested this meeting. So, kudos to the president for accepting this meeting. Uh, but I want to say that to his heart now, President Trump now lives in Florida, right? Was Palm Beach, but he's a New Yorker to his heart. He doesn't want to see New York fail. His businesses are located in New York as somebody who was a good friend of mine reminded me. Uh, so, you know, it's in his best interest also for New York to prosper. It's in all of America's best interest. and I thought that they were going to have a cordial meeting. So, it seems that they did. Uh, at the end of the day, they're both politicians. They have to do right by their their people and their constituents. The president is the president of us all. That includes the people of New York. He doesn't want to do any harm to the people of New York just because they elected a Democratic socialist for mayor. Uh, so, you know, I'm I'm hopeful. and Manny had the biggest to lose here because the threat was that Donald that President Trump was going to pull uh finances and funding from New York had he been elected. So, let's hope that that doesn't come to fruition. Don, >> so Angie, Trump said he wants to support Meani uh not heard him during this uh press conference after the meeting. Uh I have a clip here with me that I'd like to have you guys take a look uh the comments that Trump made about Mdani. All right. >> I hope they have great leaders. This is a man that right now I think is focused on New York City. I really think he has a chance to do a great job. We're going to help him, but I really think he has a chance to do a great job. >> So, you know, Angie, I was surprised and President Trump said he was surprised as well on the number of things they actually agree on. So um how do you see President Trump and Mdani working together because in addition to the agreements they also mentioned uh some disagreements as well and saying perhaps there were a number of them. So how are they going to work around the obstacles posed by their differing political ideologies? >> Well, I think the key word that President Trump says is we're going to help him which really uh says a lot. It goes miles here because we know that New York City is heavily uh sorry not heavenly but heavily dependent on federal dollars including the housing projects, transportation. There's a lot of crossover uh between New York and Washington DC. So I'm very I think Zoran Mandani knew that going in. He cannot fulfill a 4-year administration without the help of the federal government. So he went hand in hat to President Trump and did the right thing which is reach out to President Trump, speak with him unlike other blue city mayors uh who completely reject the Trump administration and try to keep them out of their cities. He's actually embracing it. It shows leadership skills that I wasn't prepared to see in this 34 year old, I got to tell you. But I think he really has what it takes now. Uh, and I today have gained a bit of respect for him after having bashing bashed him for many, many months over the campaign trail. So, I really like this look. Um, ultimately he's doing what Daniel Lori, uh, this San Francisco mayor is doing, which is speaking with Trump, having an open dialogue with Trump, maybe even having a back channel with Trump and working together with Trump so that none of this nonsense that we're seeing in other blue cities, like rejecting ICE federal agents coming in. We're not going to see any of that. It's going to be an open line, which means that New York City can actually prosper. I like the whole thing. Okay. So, Robin, um I still want to know if there are differing opinions between these two men, how are they going to approach it? >> They have to at the end of the day, uh do what's best for their their people. Uh like I said, he's the president of of the entirety of the United States and Mdani is mayor elect of all of New York City. So, uh they have to see where they can work together. You know, obviously they had major differences specifically when it comes to funding some of the programs that mayor like Mandani wants to fund there in the city like free public transport for example and some of the some of the programs that he had with regard to food insecurity. Uh you know those are pretty radical programs that he that he proposed. Uh but there are more or less radical things that they can actually work on together. some of the infrastructure things. Uh New York City still has some sort of a crumbling infrastructure that needs to be dealt with and it's they they have to find commonalities where they can work together. You know, I was arch nemesis for a long time of of Dick Cheney who we just laid to rest yesterday, but at the end of the day, he and I through debate and public discourse found areas where where we agreed and became unlikely friends. And I see that possibly even happening here. they may end up finding areas where they can be friendly to one another. >> So, Angie, the word affordability came up a number of times during this press conference and uh Trump mentioned that making NYC affordable um is actually a key issue that see he sees eye to eye with Mandani on. Uh so I have another clip here with me. Let's take a look. I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our views. And what I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers. And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of the 8 and a half million people who are currently struggling under a cost of living crisis with one in four living in poverty. So Angie, you said you have more respect now for Mandani. How significant could this shared goal of affordability uh be as a springboard, if you will, for their work together? How is this going to impact New York City? >> You know, it's it's great that these two men are speaking because I think they're trying to understand each other uh through words and words that sometimes clash. I'll hear one thing, but then my Democrat colleague might hear a separate thing alto together because that's just how far apart we've been and how divided we've been for many, many years now. So, the word affordability, I believe that Trump is really trying to get a grasp of what that actually means. For him, it could mean the big beautiful bill and oh well, I've already solved that problem. But the reality is he he's also a New Yorker born and raised in Queens and he understands that it's getting very difficult. you're priced out as a young person, a young American. You can't buy into the American dream anymore. It's just too expensive. And sadly, from the time you graduate from college, you're already in the red. You start your adult life in the red. So, I think President Trump is actually trying to understand from Zoron Mandani, who is a young genzer, to understand what affordability actually means to a young voter. And I think um this is a great period where this is where although they clash in ideology, they actually can meet in the middle somewhere to figure out a real solution because this is a problem that's going to be affecting I believe all Americans, especially with the invention of AI and robotics and things taking over future jobs. They're going to have to figure this problem out together. >> You know, Robin, Angie raises a great point there. Um, does affordability mean the same in Trump's mind and Mamdani's mind? >> No. Uh, and you know, Mamani took great a lot of hits on the campaign trail because he lived in a rent control apartment and was only paying $2,300 a month rent and c and said that all New Yorkers should be have the ability to get $2,300 a month rent and called that affordable. Now, to many people, that's actually not affordable. that's not affordable to people right here in the suburbs of Atlanta, I can assure you for rent. Uh but in New York City, it probably is. So, they do have to kind of talk to one another and see what it does mean to actually, you know, have be affordable uh there in in the city cuz it's going to mean different things to different people. Uh and and they're just going to have to come to terms with that. But it's interesting to me that I like my colleague here, Angie, I I beat up on M Donnie quite a bit because I really didn't want the Democratic party to slide toward Democratic socialism and I was worried that the party would use this as a template to take all across the United States uh for areas like me. I'm I'm talking to you from Atlanta, Georgia. Um but you know, let's let's take the good. Let's let's take the good, keep it, and leave the bad. Sean, >> okay, Robin, uh can I follow up on your point? If Mamani is successful in uh making, to use Trump's words, New York City great again, what does that mean for the Democratic party? >> That means that they probably will use this as a template for some of our larger cities. Uh and and that's fine. It will work in in areas like New York City specifically. It'll work in LA, but it won't work uh in some of the other areas like Northern California, for example. It won't work in the outskirts of of the the suburbs of Atlanta and throughout Georgia at large. So, we can't use this as a one-sizefits-all approach. And that's what I'm telling party leadership. I speak with them daily. I I I do consulting with the DNC and and I've told them, look, we still have to embrace a 50-state strategy here. Uh and not just 50 states, but look at the cities themselves because we cannot apply a one-sizefits-all approach. Typically, when the party loses, when the Democratic Party loses, they tend to go more left. They think that they lost because they they weren't left enough. That's not going to work here as a one-sizefits-all solution, Don. >> Okay, Angie. Uh, I'm curious to your thoughts on this as well. >> Yeah. Uh, well, I I you look, there's so many ways of looking at this, but ultimately we're walking away today with a win for New York City and for all cities. This could be a great model for how well local government and federal government work together. And if and I think that's what President Trump is going to show off now. He's going to show the bright stars of our cities and who is championing them. Like we we've had a few and I think there I see how President Trump does this already with congressional members that he likes. He really champions people that he enjoys working with and he shows off how we can work together and he really really shows it to the point where you can't really debate him on it, right? So I think New York City is going to be a great model for how cities can look going forward into the next century. Uh, we do have problems in our cities beyond crime. Our grocery prices are crazy expensive. Housing is expensive. Now, Zoran Mandani, he's a dreamer. And I think President Trump even used those words. We're going to help him achieve his dreams, right? Something to that effect. And I like that because he's now not only speaking to New Yorkers, but he's also speaking to young Americans who are all scratching their heads going, how am I going to make this? How am I going to at least reach the achievements that my parents have made? because it's really difficult to buy in these days. So, um I think that's the longer goal that I'm looking forward to in these talks. I've long said this is not a meeting between the New York City city mayor elect and the president. This is a meeting between the head of the Republican party, Donald Trump, and the new face of the Democrat party, which is Zoron Mandani. And I think that if we can make those two big parties of America work together, we really do have something great. >> Okay. To your point, Angie, you're saying uh Mani is the new face of the Democratic party and Trump is the leader of uh the Republican party. What's what's interesting here is uh at one point during during the post meeting conference, Trump said a lot of his voters also voted for Mamani. I found that interesting given the different ideologies shared by uh each of the men. So can you just give give us your reaction on this point? Yeah, I I I found that surprising too. I was surprised that someone who would have voted for Trump in 2024 would then vote for Zoron Mandani in 2025 if not for a referendum on Trump. Right. So it doesn't seem like there was a lot of things that were in common uh at least with those two elections. So, I'd like to see the data a little bit more. I know that in the primary, Zoran Mandani was heavily heavily voted in by females, Gen Z females. Um, and I just don't see that being the base for for Donald Trump. But I could be wrong. I really do need to dive into the data to answer that. >> Robin, uh, I think we should wrap up the conversation here today. If you have any final thoughts you would like to share, >> I do. I want to touch on what Andrew said. uh this could be a template on how we need to speak with one another as neighbors. Let's look at one another as neighbors where we agree not as as Democrats and Republicans but as human beings who have to exist with one another and let's see where we can work together. I think they set a good example of that today and we can expand on that. >> Well, if I may say our conversation today also sets a good example. Thank you very much for speaking with us. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much.