A body language expert says Zohran Mamdani looked surprisingly cheerful and eager to please during his first White House meeting with President Trump, even though the two had spent months insulting each other.So did the Democratic Socialist want to impress Trump with his charisma and his quick answers to reporters’ rapid questions?A day after the New York City mayor-elect met Trump for the first time, body and brain analyst Carole Lieberman told The New York Post that the encounter looked surprisingly warm. She described their interaction as “almost giddy” and compared it to a “love fest,” suggesting the mood in the Oval Office was far softer than expected.
“It seems as though someone may have diffused laughing gas into the meeting they just had, because both President Trump and Mayor Mamdani seemed almost giddy. Their behavior towards one another was like a ‘love fest,’” Lieberman said. She noted that Mamdani appeared keen to present himself favourably in front of Trump like a class representative trying to impress a teacher. “Mamdani stood like a little school boy, his hands clasped together most of the time, trying his hardest to look like a ‘good little boy.’”She added that the socialist’s posture and expressions made him look like a character from a play. “It was as if he was cast in ‘Oliver (Twist),’ saying, ‘Please, sir, can I have some more?’”
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The “communist” and the “fascist” spoke to reporters after their private conversation, where Mamdani stood smiling with his hands clasped as Trump sat comfortably at the Resolute Desk. Lieberman pointed out that Trump maintained subtle control through touch. “Trump was very ‘hands on,’ tapping Mamdani and shaking hands with him. But, he made sure he tapped Mamdani’s hand last, to indicate that Trump is the one in control,” she said.
The two leaders met to discuss affordability in New York and later described the meeting as cordial and productive. Trump praised the mayor-elect, saying, “I met with a man who’s a very rational person. I met with a man who wants to see, really wants to see, New York be great again. I’ll be cheering for him.”Mamdani shared a similar sentiment, saying, “I enjoyed our conversation and I look forward to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.”Their chummy behaviour is polar opposite their earlier rhetoric, with Mamdani having previously called Trump a “despot,” while Trump had called the mayor-elect a “100% Communist Lunatic.”
