REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Sources inside the White House were so baffled by President Donald Trump's handling of a high-profile meeting that some have gotten a "25th Amendment shiver" over the "weird" behavior, according to veteran reporter Michael Wolff.

On Friday, Trump welcomed Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, to the White House. A staunchly progressive state assemblyman from Queens, Mamdani's campaign rocketed to the forefront of the 2025 race with a focus on cost-of-living issues and strong condemnations of Trump policies. As an avowed adherent to Democratic socialist political principles, he also became a negative fixture in right-wing media, with Fox News in particular hyping up the meeting as a "showdown with socialism."

The meeting ultimately went in a completely different and unexpected direction, as Trump treated Mamdani with cordial, warm, and complimentary tone, stating that the two agreed on more things than he expected and that he would feel safe living in New York under the mayor-elect's leadership.

This reception left many right-wing media and MAGA pundits confused, and that sense extended to White House staffers, according to Wolff. Speaking on a recent episode of the Inside Trump's Head podcast, the reporter cited a source “quite up close to what is going on” in the administration, who summed up the internal reaction to the Mamdani visit as “What the f---?” Trump's behavior was so out of left field that it gave some in the White House concerns about the president's mental state.

“Nobody expected that. This was not the script," Wolff said of the source's reaction. "It was completely out of the blue... and concerning. This wasn’t just losing the plot. This was like a different guy. The look in his eyes was crazy.”

Prior to the meeting, Trump's comments about Mamdani had been overwhelmingly negative, calling him a "communist lunatic," musing that the administration might have him arrested and, at one point, suggesting that he might be in the country "illegally" despite being a naturalized citizen.

“The only explanation was that the guy forgot who he is—so weird,” Wolff's source added. “It gives you a 25th Amendment shiver.”

The 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, while largely concerned with more standard succession issues surrounding the presidency, also contains key provisions allowing for the removal of the president's powers and responsibilities should the vice president and a majority of the cabinet agree that they are not currently mentally or physically able to carry them out. The vice president would become the acting president for as long as it takes for the president to regain their ability, or until they leave office. Since being ratified in 1967, it has largely been invoked in instances where the president is incapacitated during medical procedures.