In a triumphant election-night speech earlier this month, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani addressed President Donald Trump directly, telling the president to “turn the volume up.” Trump has repeatedly called Mamdani a “Communist” and questioned his citizenship status.

But when the two met in the Oval Office on Friday, it was all strikingly cordial — almost affectionate. “Hopefully, you’ll have a really great mayor,” Trump told reporters. “The better he does, the happier I am.”

To break down what happened in their meeting, why it wasn’t entirely surprising, and what it could mean for New York City and the GOP, I turned to my colleague Astead Herndon, who has covered Trump and recently wrote a definitive profile of Mamdani. Our conversation, edited for length and clarity, is below

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