Donald Trump Won't Let Criticism Hurt His Bromance With Zohran Mamdani (Sorry, JD Vance)

Leading up to the New York City mayoral election, Donald Trump spent some of his considerable time on Truth Social complaining about the possibility of Zohran Mamdani being elected. And he continued to repeat that he would withhold some federal funding from New York City if Mamdani won – clearly Mamdani got under Trump's skin. But then Mamdani won and met with Trump in the Oval Office, and Trump seemed to leave that meeting thoroughly charmed. The bromance extended to Trump even wearing a seemingly Mamdani-inspired outfit shortly after. And even though Mamdani publicly called out the Trump administration's capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on X (formerly Twitter), Trump still seems to think the two are on good terms. With all of that, we also noticed that Trump seems to be talking more about Mamdani than his own VP, JD Vance.

Trump: I don't know how jewish people can vote for Biden and Obama. They were on the side of Iran.

Hannity: Or Mamdani

Trump: I have a very relationship but I thought it would take at least maybe a month or two months before he went after me. He hit me on the attack on... pic.twitter.com/z1pua1LcVO

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 9, 2026

When Trump spoke with Sean Hannity on Fox News after the Maduro capture, he confirmed that he had a "nice relationship" with Mamdani. And he seemed surprised that Mamdani hadn't been equally as charmed by him. "I thought it would take at least maybe a month or two months before he went after me," Trump complained. "He hit me on the attack on Venezuela which is pretty unusual." Trump is someone who has gone after those in his own party who have spoken out against him — just look at the Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene feud. Maybe Trump is still holding out hope that he can be besties with Mamdani, which is why he appears to be giving him a pass. 

It seems pretty clear from Donald Trump's comments about Zohran Mamdani that he really wants to be liked by him, and he even told Sean Hannity that Mamdani's "got a great personality, he's a nice guy," via the New York Post. We can't think of the last time that Trump referred to JD Vance like that. And throughout the Venezuelan drama, Trump seems to have put Vance on the back burner. 

Vance wasn't in the photos that the White House released that showed Trump and other staff like Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio watching the capture of Nicolás Maduro. Vance has made a couple of comments on X about the Maduro operation, clearly in favor of Trump's actions. But it seems like it's Mamdani who Trump's thinking about.

It's hardly the first time that Vance would appear to be an afterthought. During the inauguration, Trump couldn't even get Vance's name right on the first try. That could have been a simple flub in the moment, but it didn't help make it seem like Vance and Trump are as close as Trump seems to want to be with Mamdani. And people have noticed. One person posted on X that Vance is "mad Trump likes Zohran more than him." Even Fox News thinks that Vance might be jealous of Mamdani.