Opinion: When Donald met Zohran

Visits with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office have made for some dramatic theater this year. 

Who could forget the debacle when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy didn’t sufficiently thank Trump for his help in beating back the Russian incursion in Ukraine? Zelenskyy was almost literally kicked out of the White House like a naughty young child being sent to detention.

And just a few days ago, we witnessed the lovefest between Trump and Saudi Arabian leader Mohammed bin Salman. The worship of petrodollars and the hope for a deeper economic and military alliance led Trump to vociferously defend the crown prince from “rude” questions from the media about bin Salman’s human rights record, particularly the notorious execution of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi almost seven years ago.

Now, Trump is set to meet with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, whom the president has previously disdained as a Muslim “jihadist” and “Communist.” (Mamdani, who will be the first Muslim mayor of New York City, is a democratic socialist.)

The president’s meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed shows that he has the capacity to forge a friendship with a Muslim leader — but the Saudi crown prince’s ultra-capitalist ideology is more in sync with Trump’s worldview than Mamdani’s “tax the rich” democratic socialism.

In a serendipitous way, though, the timing is right for Trump and Mamdani to forge a strong working relationship, even if a true friendship is probably not in the cards.

They both need each other. Badly.

The president’s favorability has dropped, even among Republicans, with many polls showing the country’s continued discontent with the economy and the stubbornly unchanged high cost of living.

In the past few days, Trump has been mentioning “affordability” a lot – disparagingly at times, implying it’s a new word in the lexicon.

But just over a year ago, he sailed to victory over Vice President Kamala Harris largely because Americans were fed up with inflation and the high prices of everyday goods that spiked during the Biden administration.

However, inflation hasn’t gone down under Trump – the economic statistics still show a 3% inflation rate, which is 1% higher than the Federal Reserve target rate. As a result, the Fed’s interest rate – which Trump is obsessed with lowering – is unlikely to be cut at its the upcoming December meeting.

Mamdani actually followed parts of Trump’s populist playbook to win the mayoralty. He was laser focused on bringing down costs, and “affordability” became a mantra during his impressive campaign.

While Mamdani approached high prices and inflation from a different angle and tone than Trump, the mayor-elect capitalized on young New Yorkers’ frustration with the astronomical costs of housing and other everyday necessities like groceries, transportation, and for young families, child care. His plan is to tackle these specific issues.

So when Trump and Mamdani dispense with the “getting to know you” pleasantries today, here’s a suggestion for one topic to discuss: how to quickly and efficiently build massive amounts of affordable housing for middle-class New Yorkers.

Guess who did that in various neighborhoods in New York in the 1960s? Fred Trump, the president’s father, who loomed large in Gotham as well as in his son’s life, propelling the younger Trump into a colorful career in real estate development.

Donald Trump chose to build luxury housing rather than middle-class developments – a microcosm of the overall building problem that has affected New York for the past five decades – but he watched the master builder when he was starting out as an “apprentice” in his own career.

Why not spend some time with Mamdani analyzing Fred’s success in building large-scale developments, many of which were part of the innovative Mitchell-Lama program that was so successful throughout the city in the mid-20th century? (They can steer clear of some of the federal accusations of discriminatory rental policies in Fred Trump’s properties.)

Trump Village, a complex of seven buildings in Coney Island built by Fred in 1963-64, was completed for just $70 million. It was supported by the New York State Housing Finance Agency, through public bonds issued by the state and with some important tax exemptions.

It added lots of middle-class housing to the city quickly – totaling more than 2,700 units. Coupled with other middle-class developments like LeFrak City in Queens and Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan, New York in the mid-20th century was much more welcoming and “affordable” for a wider spectrum of socioeconomic classes.

President Trump could pay tribute to his late father’s legacy by explaining the “Fred Trump Playbook” to Mamdani and then providing federal funds to New York to accelerate this type of building throughout the city.

As the old adage goes, “politics makes strange bedfellows.” Let’s hope that when Donald meets Zohran today, these “strange bedfellows” can find a common cause that will benefit both of their agendas – and more importantly, improve the city that gave both of them and their families a place to succeed and rise to power.