The Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump Love Fest: Undressed by the Unaddressed
As a looooogtime (sic) practitioner of analyzing persuasive communication, let me tell you what to make of the Mamdani-Trump love fest today: cynics may apply.
What are the issues between these two?
Here are some of them:
Personal: Mamdani called Trump, among other things, a fascist, and Trump called Mamdani a communist, among other things.
In their press conference today, Trump reassured Mamdani that he need not answer Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich’s question about whether he still thought Trump was a fascist.
Trump interceded, condescendingly putting his hand on Mamdani’s arm, and said, “You can just say yes. It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”
Mamdani said nothing. Wonder if he will so reference the president in a future speech.
So what’s to be concerned about? Problems solved?
Not so fast, Miss Congeniality Breath.
What about that stuff that divided them? Ah, yes, public policies.
Well, on one and maybe a couple, Mamdani has retreated:
Mamdani has agreed to keep N.Y.P.D.’s Jessica Tisch, the wealthy but tough police commissioner, and she will make personnel decisions. She is not happy about recidivism, and Mamdani is less concerned, but she will determine personnel decisions. For now.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/
Mamdani also is not going to reduce the size of the police force. It is still unclear how he is going to decide what lawbreakers will go through the mental health ringer and which will go through the criminal justice process.
Problem? Not addressed in this little Trump-Mamdani confab.
More policy differences were unexamined in the press conferences, including
eventually making public buses free, freezing rent increases and increasing by 2030 the minimum wage to $30 per hour.
Mamdani also wants to raise taxes on millionaires and corporations to expand childcare and create government-run grocery stores and a free bus system.
Remember, he is a socialist. That did come up for debate today. And no one even hinted that he is a communist, despite he quoting some of Karl Marx’s lines.
Mamdani gave a few sentences of condemnation to anti-Semitism but didn’t reassure Benyamin Netanyahu he could visit New York without being arrested, as he had opined.
And the kicker of the undiscussed matters may be providing free, universal childcare for all New York City children from 6 weeks to five years-old in New York City.
Undiscussed, at least in public today.
I know of few enemies of mine with whom. I could not have a pleasant stroking conversation about goals, if we don’t spend any time on the means to reach those goals.
Trump and Mamdani — as have all leaders — claim to want peace…so did Putin, Stalin and Hitler
If anyone won today, it may have been Trump who can undermine Mamdani more than vice-versa.
But he didn’t win much. They did not discuss much.
Don’t fall for theater when the actors are faking their camaraderie.
Richard E. Vatz https://wp.towson.edu/vatz/ is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of political rhetoric at Towson University and author of The Only Authentic of Persuasion: the Agenda-Spin Model (Bookwrights House, 2024) and over 200 other works, essays, lectures, and op-eds. He is the benefactor of the Richard E. Vatz Best Debater Award at Towson. The Van Bokkelen Auditorium at Towson University has been named after him.