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Five theories to explain the Donald-Zohran meet-cute | Dave Schilling

Zohran and Donald. Donald and Zohran. Not since Turner met Hooch has a couple so captivated the American psyche. This might be the meet-cute of the decade, unless you count RFK Jr and Olivia Nuzzi. Which was actually not cute at all, when I think about it.

Why can’t we all stop talking about the New York City mayor-elect and his No 1 fan in the White House? Probably because absolutely none of this makes even a tiny bit of sense. From almost the beginning of his rise, Zohran Mamdani positioned himself as an anti-Trump democratic socialist who would use the bully pulpit of Gracie Mansion to battle Maga attacks on the city. Trump, sensing an opportunity to create yet another punching bag, called Mamdani a communist and questioned his American citizenship. He even went to the trouble of endorsing Mamdani’s opponent, Andrew Cuomo, in the mayoral election.

Something changed. Hard to say where or when, but clearly, after their meeting, Donald Trump started to see Zohran in a different way. Why would two politicians with seemingly nothing in common suddenly seem so chummy in the Oval Office?

I have some theories, some more speculative than others:

1 New York City is the center of the attention economy

New York is a place where tabloids scream all-caps headlines at people every day, where con artists can become legitimate celebrities simply for being somewhat successful at crime, and real estate developers with a taste for the spotlight can become president of the United States. I doubt I’m saying anything that will shock or concern you here, but it should be articulated: this meeting was an epic photo op for a couple of bros perhaps looking to grow their follower count. Donald Trump can smell a camera from 60 yards away, like some kind of bloodhound trained to chase paparazzi. He’s been putting himself in photos with successful people for years. It’s just one of those things he’s good at, and he learned that skill in New York. Zohran is also a New Yorker and understands the economy of attention. He had to go from polling below 5% to winning the entire election. Trump might live in Washington DC and Florida, but he’ll never stop being a New Yorker at heart. Game recognizes game.

2 Donald Trump loves a winner

Then again, don’t we all? My son only started rooting for the Dodgers once they won the World Series last year. Nothing more fickle than a young child desperate to avoid even the hint of failure. And no one is more disgusted by losing than our Big Boy in Chief. The idea of losing is so repugnant to him that he has regularly denied it. Zohran won with a clear majority and has support across numerous demographics. It was a clear and decisive victory. Trump might as well find a way to get some of that Zohran magic to rub off on him.

3 Zohran is a millennial, and therefore completely nonthreatening

So much of Donald Trump’s political career has been defined by petty grievances and inside-baseball rivalry. Getting flamed at the White House correspondents’ dinner might have set him on the path to the presidency. People like Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton are all in the same general age bracket, travel in similar social circles and probably ran into Donald Trump on more than one occasion before he became president. Jealousy, frustration or just plain old competitiveness might make all of the hectoring and political gamesmanship more fun for him, or at least more rewarding. Zohran is 10 years younger than Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and probably has never played golf with anyone he went to college with.

4 Maybe they’re both really bullish on the Knicks this season

If Karl-Anthony Towns can find his shooting form and Landry Shamet stays hot, New York’s got a decent chance to make it out of the East.

5 Donald Trump is a huge fan of the films of Zohran’s mother, Mira Nair?

We don’t know what kinds of movies Donald Trump watched in the past. Maybe he really connected with the culture-clash romance of Mississippi Masala? Perhaps Monsoon Wedding was a VHS he wore out from incessant rewatch? I can definitely see him connecting with 1996’s Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. Splendid performance from Indira Varma.

I guess, though, we’ll never know why Donald Trump said Zohran Mamdani could call him a fascist. Maybe he was just happy to have a distraction.