Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sang praises of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D) on Tuesday following the surprisingly cordial meeting with President Trump on Friday at the White House.
Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Bessent made positive remarks about Mamdani after co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin said he was curious to hear the treasury secretary’s reaction to the meeting that took place after Trump and Mamdani traded public barbs at each other for months.
Bessent, who said he attended the meeting between the democratic socialist and Trump, told Sorkin, “You’ve got to have some admiration for a candidate who ran a campaign the way he did... It was a great, great campaign.”
Declaring that Mamdani is “clearly the leader of the Democratic Party now,” Bessent continued, “and I think it speaks to how open-minded the president is that he invited him into the Oval [Office].”
Bessent, a Republican, argued that Trump “wants the best for New Yorkers” before slyly sliding in a jab against Mamdani, calling him “a young man with a lot of old ideas that have never worked.”
“It’s easy to run a campaign, but the practical everyday of keeping people safe, picking up the trash, making the subways run on time — we’ll see,” Bessent added.
On Friday, Mamdani and Trump appeared jovial at the highly anticipated meeting, smiling and laughing together as they vowed to work together to address New York City’s affordability and housing crisis.
At one point, Mamdani was asked during the meeting if he still thinks Trump is a “fascist.” Before he could respond, the president interjected, telling him, “That’s OK, you can just say ‘yes’. It’s easier than explaining it, I don’t mind.”
“OK, yes,” the mayor-elect responded with a grin as Trump smiled back and patted him on his arm.
Over the weekend, Mamdani was asked yet again whether he thinks Trump is a fascist during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Mamdani didn’t back down.
“That’s something that I’ve said in the past. I say it today,” he told the outlet. “And I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment.’
Mamdani added, “And we also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver on a shared analysis of an affordability crisis for New Yorkers.”
Watch Bessent’s appearance on CNBC below.