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MS NOW host <\/span>Nicolle Wallace<\/span><\/a> was taken aback after watching President <\/span>Donald Trump\u2019s<\/span><\/a> gushing treatment of New York City\u2019s Mayor-elect <\/span>Zohran Mamdani<\/span><\/a> in front of the press on Friday night during Mamdani\u2019s visit to the White House. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEven with Putin, Trump didn\u2019t go on for as long where he lavished that much praise, affection and admiration on anyone,\u201d Wallace told her guest, Fast Politics podcast host Molly Jong-Fast, on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Trump congratulated Mamdani, a harsh and outspoken critic of the president, for his mayoral win during their highly anticipated meeting, praising him <\/a>and offering words of encouragement. It was quite the shift from the tone Trump took during the mayoral race, when he labeled Mamdani a \u201ccommunist lunatic.<\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe better he does, the happier I am, I will say,\u201d Trump said on Friday. \u201cThere\u2019s no difference in party, there\u2019s no difference in anything. And we\u2019re going to be helping him to make everybody\u2019s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York. And congratulations, Mr Mayor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Jong-Fast shared a theory with Wallace: Trump saw the popularity of Mamdani and his economics-focused messaging, and Trump \u201cwants to get on that affordability train.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n