President Donald Trump met Thursday in the Oval Office with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, marking their second meeting in recent weeks. According to the New York Times, Mamdani pitched several housing projects that would supposedly produce more development than New York has seen in decades. The two also discussed the case of Elmina Aghayeva, a New Yorker with ties to Columbia University who had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was released after the meeting.

Trump, naturally, turned the moment into a masterclass in optics. The New York Daily News even ran two front pages side by side: one fake modern headline reading “Trump to City: Let’s Build,” and one from 1975 showing President Gerald Ford turning his back on New York. Translation: Trump builds, Democrats lecture.

Here’s why this meeting was politically brilliant.

First, it shows the side of Trump the media loves to pretend doesn’t exist: the proud New Yorker who still cares deeply about his city. Partisan lines disappear quickly when it comes to the place that made him, and this meeting reminded voters of that.

Second, it made Mamdani look weak. He had to come to Trump for help — on immigration, on housing, and likely on federal funding. In political terms, that’s not a negotiation, that’s “kissing the ring.” For a mayor who campaigns on independence from Washington, it was a pretty clear admission of who actually has leverage.

Third, independents watching this will start questioning the media’s favorite bedtime story about Trump being some kind of fascist cartoon villain. Here he is, sitting down with a political opponent, talking housing, and even showing flexibility on immigration. That looks a lot more like leadership than tyranny, no matter how hard CNN squints.

And finally, Mamdani’s hardcore left-wing base is probably melting down over this. A friendly, productive meeting with Trump is political heresy in their circles. They may be loud rather than large, but they are relentless, and this meeting is the kind of thing that can fracture a fragile coalition.

The takeaway is simple: Trump still knows how to charm, compromise, and dominate the narrative at the same time. It’s the same formula that attracted swing voters in 2016 — the billionaire who talked like a regular guy, the builder who focused on results instead of ideology.

If Trump leans into this side of himself heading into the midterms, it won’t just help him politically — it will remind Americans why he connected with them in the first place. And that’s a winning strategy.