President Donald Trump on Friday offered surprising praise for New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani ahead of their private meeting in the Oval Office.

Trump gave Mamdani “ a lot of credit " during an interview on “ The Brian Kilmeade Show ” on Fox News Radio, saying the 34-year-old Democrat “ran a good race” to win the Nov. 4 election . The president’s comments were an unusual show of courtesy in what has been a combative political relationship

“He’s got a different philosophy; he’s a little bit different,” Trump told Kilmeade . “I give him a lot of credit for the run, a successful run. We all know that runs aren’t easy. But I think we’ll get along fine. We’re looking for the same thing. We want to make New York strong.”

Today’s meeting, scheduled for 3 p.m. ET, “is going

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