Mayor Zohran Mamdani Refuses Jimmy Kimmel’s Request to Text Trump a Selfie of Them

The late-night show has returned to the New York City borough for a week of shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It’s Kimmel’s eighth time filming “Live” in Brooklyn, the place he was born and spent his early years, and the comic is welcoming a number of heavy-hitting guests to his couch, from Howard Stern and Billy Crystal to Paul McCartney and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT). He said the show received over 150,000 ticket requests, and kicked off his Brooklyn week with guests Pete Davidson and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as well as a musical performance by TV on the Radio, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their celebrated album “Return to Cookie Mountain.”

While there weren’t any stories involving an Oscar-winning actor exposing himself to Kimmel in a bathroom, the host was heckled by Matt Damon in a Boston Red Sox cap — on the eve of the Yankees/Red Sox AL Wild Card Series — who was joined by Kimmel’s mother and sister, and Jon Hamm, cosplaying as an angry New York City construction worker. After his sit-down interview with Davidson, who was promoting his Netflix video podcast “The Pete Davidson Show” and upcoming film “How to Rob a Bank,” Kimmel welcomed Mayor Mamdani to the stage. He prefaced his arrival with a montage of clips of Fox News talking heads predicting that New York City would become “terrifying” under Mamdani and crime would go “through the roof.” That proved to be wrong, as murders and shootings in the city hit record lows in Mamdani’s first seven months.

“Another thing that is very unexpected is this relationship that you have with President Trump, which seems to be a very friendly relationship,” Kimmel said, adding, “Did you guys hit it off immediately or is it something that you really went into thinking, ‘OK, I need to have a relationship with the president of the United States, and I think the best way to do it is to charm him.’ How did you do that, and can you help me?”

Mamdani laughed. “Sorry brother,” he replied. “The president and I have many disagreements. One thing we do agree on is this city, how much we love this city, so from that first meeting in November of last year, I was just thinking of how we can make this meeting not about us, but about New Yorkers. How can we spend that time talking about the things that can make life in the city a little bit easier.”

Kimmel then threw to a video clip of Mamdani standing next to Trump at Gracie Mansion as the president gave a rambling speech, with the camera pressing in on Mamdani as he stood there stone-faced. “I mean, it is remarkable,” offered Kimmel. “I watch that, and I go, ‘OK, this is not a guy I’d want to play poker with.’” Mamdani said that while Trump is speaking, he’s only focused on getting federal approval for his proposed Sunnyside Yard project, a development in Queens that would feature an estimated 12,000 new homes and create approximately 30,000 jobs.

“You text with the president, I’ve read?” Kimmel pressed further.

“From time to time we’re in communication, and it’s about Sunnyside Yard, and it’s about how we can deliver for the city,” replied Mamdani. “One of the other things the president mentioned that we spoke about, that I care very deeply about, is Haitian New Yorkers. They’ve had their Protected Status ended, and I really believe we need to do whatever we can so they have stability. They’re part of the fabric of this city.”

Kimmel then asked if they could text Trump “a selfie of us right now,” only to have Mamdani shut him down: “Jimmy, I love you, but I love housing more.”