The president called the mayor a “nice guy” with bad policy, but his voter ID jab may have backfired
Trump Puts Mamdani on the National Stage at the State of the Union
President Donald Trump used his 2026 State of the Union address — the longest in at least six decades at nearly two hours — to take a swipe at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. But the moment may have done more to elevate the mayor than embarrass him. “The new communist mayor of New York City — I think he’s a nice guy, actually,” Trump told the joint session of Congress. “I speak to him a lot. Bad policy, but nice guy.” The remark drew laughs and cheers from Republicans in the chamber, but it also handed Mamdani a kind of political credibility that money cannot buy: a name-check from the most powerful office in the world.
The Snow Shoveler Contradiction Trump Tried to Make
The president’s real target was a program Mamdani’s administration launched during a historic blizzard that blanketed the city with more than two feet of snow in some areas. The city offered emergency workers up to $30 per hour to help shovel snow, requiring applicants to be at least 18, eligible to work in the United States, and to show two original forms of identification plus a Social Security card. Trump held this up as evidence of Democratic inconsistency: requiring identification to earn a city paycheck while opposing federal voter ID requirements. “Yet they don’t want identification for the greatest privilege of all: voting in America,” Trump told Congress. New York State law requires proof of citizenship to register to vote, but voters do not have to show ID at the ballot box on election day. Critics of voter ID laws argue that such requirements disproportionately suppress turnout among low-income, elderly, and minority voters. Supporters argue they protect election integrity. The two identification systems serve entirely different legal purposes — one is an employment eligibility check tied to federal work authorization law, the other is an exercise of a constitutional right.
A Complicated but Oddly Civil Relationship
The exchange was consistent with the odd dynamic that has developed between the democratic socialist mayor and the Republican president. The two met at the White House in November 2025 in what both described as a productive session. Mamdani has said he texts with Trump regularly but keeps the content of those conversations private. “I’ll say that the conversations between the president and I are private, and I’ll keep them there. But they are always back to the question of New Yorkers,” Mamdani told The Hill. Trump, for his part, said at the White House meeting: “We have one thing in common: we want this city of ours that we love to do very well.” City Hall did not immediately respond to the SOTU remarks, and Mamdani has generally avoided directly antagonizing the president — a posture that has frustrated some on the left but may reflect a strategic calculation to protect federal funding and keep lines of communication open.
Snow Removal Drew Praise and Controversy
The emergency snow program itself was widely regarded as a modest success across four of the five boroughs. Staten Island, which received the heaviest snowfall, was a notable exception. Borough leaders there called it “absurd” that Mamdani ordered schools to resume in-person instruction the day after the storm, arguing that many roads remained impassable. That dispute is ongoing, and Staten Island officials say they plan to meet with the Mamdani administration to discuss a longer-term emergency response framework. The storm itself was historic: New York City recorded nearly twice its normal seasonal snowfall, placing the Blizzard of 2026 among the top ten biggest snowstorms ever measured at Central Park.
What the SOTU Moment Reveals About National Politics
The decision to single out Mamdani — even with backhanded warmth — reflects how the mayor has become a national symbol in the debate over what the Democratic Party stands for. Republicans have made “communism” and “socialism” central attack lines heading into the 2026 midterms, and Mamdani’s democratic socialist politics make him a useful foil. But the mayor’s willingness to meet with Trump, maintain open communication, and focus relentlessly on affordability issues like childcare, housing, and transit has made the “communist” label harder to stick. For readers who want to understand the full context of voter ID debates and their civil rights implications, the Brennan Center for Justice voter ID research offers extensive documentation. For the federal work authorization rules behind the snow shoveler ID requirements, the USCIS I-9 employment eligibility guidance is the authoritative source. Additional reporting on the SOTU’s longest-ever runtime and full fact-checking is available from NBC New York’s SOTU fact check. The blizzard’s historic context is documented in Storm Team 4’s snowfall records. The confrontation between Trump and Mamdani at the nation’s biggest political stage is not likely to be the last. As midterm campaigns heat up, both men have every reason to keep the other’s name in the conversation.
