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For a man who prides himself on being unpredictable, Donald Trump still managed to shock America on Friday, simply by falling for Mamdani. Are we shocked? Deeply. Do we blame him? Absolutely not.

This meeting was billed as a clash of ideologies. Trump has spent years publicly insulting Mamdani, often in ways that could generously be described as deeply unsubtle. Instead, what unfolded was… tender? Chummy? Something straight out of a political rom-com that absolutely no one ordered?

Trump couldn’t stop complimenting Mamdani. At one point, when a reporter reminded him he had threatened to cut New York City’s funding if Mamdani won, the president suddenly went into nurturing-parent mode: “I expect to be helping him, not hurting him.”

Sir… are you okay?

And while Trump was basically writing Mamdani a love letter, the mayor-elect stayed firmly on track. Whenever reporters tried to force a confrontation — on Gaza, deportations or Trump’s very long history of insults — Mamdani did the political equivalent of changing the TV channel. Affordability. Affordability. And once again, affordability.

When confronted with the, “You accused the US government of a genocide in Gaza,” he said, to Trump’s face, “I’ve spoken about the Israeli government committing genocide and I’ve spoken about our government funding it, I shared in our meeting with the president the concern of New Yorkers have of wanting their tax dollars towards their ability to afford basic dignity.”

Still, Trump refused to take offence. In fact, he defended Mamdani. Reporters reminded him that Mamdani had once called him a “fascist.” Instead of exploding, Trump turned into a giggly schoolchild. “That’s OK. You can just say yes,” he told Mamdani. “It’s easier than explaining.”

Later, when someone mentioned Mamdani had also called him a despot, Trump shrugged: “I’ve been called much worse than a despot.”

Then came the photo — Trump gazing at Mamdani with an expression that can only be described as “love at first policy disagreement”.

Within minutes, X went into a meltdown.

‘Find someone who looks at you the way Trump looks at Zohran’

At this point, Trump’s love language is staring lovingly at Muslim men who call him a fascist.

‘Hot people privilege is real’

‘Trump after one conversation with Zohran’

People were obsessed with how Trump flipped from “radical socialist threat” to “my beloved” in under 30 minutes:

Someone even posted a fan edit of Trump staring at Mamdani set to ‘Eenie Meenie’. We have gone past parody.

‘It’s okay, sweetheart, you can call me a fascist’

Someone posted a photo captioned: “Trump after being called habibi once.”

Some people believe one more Oval Office meeting and Trump will be transformed.

Others just declared Mamdani the undisputed GOAT:

The Oval Office meeting may have been about policy, funding, and ideological differences, but the internet only saw one thing: Trump falling in political love.

Whether it lasts longer than a news cycle is unclear. But for now, America has witnessed the soft launch of its weirdest cross-ideological bromance.