Each time President Donald Trump faces political turbulence, he reaches for the same playbook: create a spectacle, pick a fight, or identify a new target. This week appears no different. Following a series of blunders—from mishandling questions about Jeffrey Epstein to public miscalculations on the cost-of-living crisis—Trump has sought a distraction. His answer: a high-profile meeting with New York City’s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
The White House insists the meeting, scheduled for Friday afternoon, was requested by Mamdani himself—a claim widely questioned by analysts. Throughout the mayoral race, Trump regularly attacked Mamdani, sometimes portraying him as a symbol of what he calls the “radical left”. This history has only intensified public curiosity about the meeting.
Trump’s political difficulties have deepened recently. Reports suggest that his decade-long dominance over the Republican Party is weakening. His missteps regarding the Epstein scandal have drawn bipartisan criticism, and his awkward attempt to show empathy on economic issues has largely backfired. In the midst of this, Trump seized upon a video of Democrat lawmakers advising soldiers that they were not obliged to follow illegal orders, branding their comments treasonous and worthy of the death penalty.
This extraordinary assertion triggered immediate outrage. Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, featured in the video, said she never imagined the President would call for her execution for simply upholding the rule of law.
Yet for Trump, provocation is not merely instinct but strategy. Controversy mobilises his conservative base and galvanises media coverage that overshadows his mistakes. From birther conspiracies against Barack Obama to denigrating Senator John McCain’s heroism and spreading baseless claims about the 2020 election, he has repeatedly benefited from stirring conflict.
The meeting with Mamdani fits neatly into that pattern. Mamdani, only 34, is widely admired among progressive and youth voters, while Trump, at 79, is increasingly seen as a political figure nearing the end of his career. By painting Mamdani as a “communist mayor” and questioning his citizenship, Trump seeks to portray the Democratic Party as extreme, setting the tone for the upcoming midterm elections.
For Mamdani, the meeting is both an opportunity and a risk. Trump has a history of staging meetings as political theatre, sometimes belittling visitors in front of cameras. His past behaviour with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains a cautionary tale. Mamdani’s challenge is to navigate the encounter without falling into a trap—a test of his political resilience and his capacity to handle the confrontational environment that awaits him as a rising figure in American politics.