Late-night hosts discussed Donald Trump’s strangely friendly meeting with New York’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
Seth Meyers
Seth Meyers devoted his Monday Closer Look segment to the bizarrely friendly White House meeting between Donald Trump and New York’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, where the president seemed downright pleased to be meeting the Democratic socialist that his administration has long demonized.
“He looks like a five-year-old meeting Mickey Mouse,” said an amused Meyers. Though Trump had previously called Mamdani a “communist” and a “total nutjob” the president seemed charmed by the 34-year-old mayor.
“I’ve never seen Trump this smitten before,” the Late Night host said. “This is a reminder: he doesn’t work with a single cool person! He is surrounded by so many charmless goons that the first time he got to hang out with someone that had a little charisma, he swooned like he was on a date with the varsity quarterback.
“You’d have stars in your eyes too if you spent every day of your life with joyless gargoyles like Stephen Miller and JD Vance, and then you met a 34-year-old social media star who rapped in a halal cart and once appeared in an actual Disney movie,” he added.
Meyers then trained on arguably the most surprising moment of the Oval Office meeting: when Trump interjected as Mamdani was asked about previously calling the president a fascist. “That’s OK, you can just say, ‘Yes.’ OK? It’s easier – it’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind,” Trump said while patting Mamdani on the arm.
“That is the flirtiest I’ve ever heard anyone say, ‘You can call me a fascist,’” Meyers joked, before breaking out his Trump impression: “You can call me a fascist, you can call me – I’ll be whatever you want me to be!”
“Of course, it won’t be remotely surprising if Trump changes his tune,” he concluded. “We’ve seen it happen many times before. But the one takeaway that will last is that all the Maga scare tactics evaporated. The right thought meeting Trump would be Zohran’s worst nightmare, but it turns out meeting Zohran was Trump’s dream come true.”
Jimmy Kimmel
And in Los Angeles, Jimmy Kimmel celebrated his frequent target Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation from Congress, after a falling-out with Trump. “Yet another Trump superfan learns that loyalty to him goes only one way,” he laughed.
In a message to her constituents, Greene said she found that Congress was beholden to the supremely wealthy and ignores the needs of ordinary Americans. “She says her party has no plan for healthcare, and that the Jeffrey Epstein files are not a hoax that the president claims they are – to which I say, welcome to reality, Marge,” said Kimmel. “We’re glad to have you here. Make yourself at home, and feel free to check out our science wing while you have a chance.
“Marjorie is out and Mamdani is in,” he added, referring to Trump’s “highly unlikely Friendsgiving on Friday at the White House” with Mamdani. “Most people were expecting fireworks,” he said, “but they did not expect them to be the Katy Perry kind.”
“They have the vibe of a wealthy elderly gay man at the Cheesecake Factory ordering his shy young boyfriend dessert,” Kimmel said of the chummy affair.
Trump, to Kimmel’s shock, lavished Mamdani with praise, saying, among other things: “He really ran an incredible race, and I congratulated him,” “it’s an amazing thing that he did,” “I think you’re going to have hopefully a really great mayor, and the better he does, the happier I am” and “I feel very confident that he’s going to do a great job.”
“What a turn of events!” Kimmel exclaimed. “It was like he was giving a wedding toast to his new son-in-law. It’s almost as if, and I know this sounds crazy – it’s almost as if Trump doesn’t have any real political convictions at all. He just says whatever, whenever.”
Of Trump’s physical displays of affection for the young mayor, Kimmel added: “He touched him more in that press conference that he’s touched Melania all year.”
The unlikely alliance left heads spinning in Maga world. “They had to unplug and reboot Sean Hannity five times after this,” Kimmel chuckled. “This is how upside-down this crop of Maga-teers is: they’re mad at Trump, some of them are furious at Trump, because he was friendly with the new mayor of New York. Last week, he had a big celebratory dinner for the Saudi prince whose goons dismembered a columnist for the Washington Post? No problem. This? Too much.
“Anybody who’s surprised that Trump got along with Mamdani should not be surprised,” he concluded. “Trump loves when famous people come to visit.”
