President Donald Trump mentioned New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani during his “State of the Union address”, saying he is a “nice guy” with “bad policy”. Trump also called Mamdani a “communist” while saying he “talks to him a lot”.
Trump said while addressing the 2026 State of the Union, “Even the new communist mayor of New York City. I think he’s a nice guy. Bad policy, but nice guy. He just said they want people to shovel snow. But if you apply for that job , you need to show two original forms of ID and a Social Social Security card. Yet they don’t want identification for the greatest privilege of them all, voting in America.
This was the longest state of State of Union address made by any president since The American Presidency Project began keeping records in 1964.
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The remark comes as Trump pressed Congress to pass an elections bill known as the SAVE America Act. This legislation would require American citizens to proof of citizenship in person when registering to vote in federal elections and introduce photo ID requirements for voting.
Under current laws, many Americans need to present some form of identification to register to vote. The act would require Americans show additional documents that prove their citizenship, such as a passport or a birth certificate. While supporters of the act call the efforts a security measure and say they’re trying to reinforce laws that will bar noncitizens from voting, voting rights advocates say it’s exceedingly rare for noncitizens to vote and such anomalies aren’t pervasive enough to influence election outcomes. These groups, including the Brennan Center for Justice, say the laws could make it more difficult for millions of Americans to cast a ballot, especially younger voters and voters of color.
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According to the Brennan Center for Justice, more than 21 million Americans lack ready access to the documents that would be required to vote. It would also make voting difficult for people if their documents are not up to date, and they have changed their name. Notably, it would affect married women who have changed their name after marriage.
Trump’s comments about Mamdani are interesting since the two are widely seen as having opposing worldviews and political stances. Yet, they have been more cordial to each other than expected. According to Axios, Trump and Mamdani have texted back and forth since their November meeting. It is unclear what the two have been texting about, though the report notes Mamdani has plenty of reasons to keep up a good working relationship with the president, including preventing him from withholding money from the city, as he has threatened, or sending in National Guard troops.