President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani shake hands as they meet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

President Donald Trump’s Oval Office meetings have become appointment viewing in his second term.

But few have generated as much anticipation as when he welcomed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Friday afternoon.

Plenty were expecting a clash between the president and the young, up-and-coming democratic socialist politician whom Republicans have made clear they would very much like to turn into their 2026 boogeyman.

What we got was decidedly not that.

Below are some takeaways from the bizarrely chummy event.

It was an unexpected love fest

Okay, some people predicted that a version of

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