Mamdani Shoots Down Kimmel's Trump Selfie Request — SkimNews
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- Jimmy Kimmel Live returned to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for its eighth Brooklyn run, drawing over 150,000 ticket requests, with guests including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Pete Davidson, Howard Stern, Billy Crystal, Paul McCartney, and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
- Zohran Mamdani appeared on the show, where Kimmel aired Fox News clips predicting NYC would become 'terrifying' under the mayor — yet murders and shootings in the city hit record lows in Mamdani's first seven months in office.
- Mamdani told Kimmel his texts with President Trump center on two policy items: federal approval for the Sunnyside Yard project in Queens, estimated at 12,000 new homes and roughly 30,000 jobs, and protecting Haitian New Yorkers whose Protected Status has been ended.
- Mamdani said he and Trump first met in November of last year, have 'many disagreements,' but share love for New York City.
- When Kimmel asked to text Trump a selfie of them on the spot, the mayor declined: 'Jimmy, I love you, but I love housing more.'
Why it matters: Mamdani's texts with Trump are a working channel focused on tangible NYC policy, not personal rapport. The Sunnyside Yard project — 12,000 homes and 30,000 jobs in Queens — needs federal sign-off, and Haitian New Yorkers face the loss of Protected Status. Mamdani's punchline reframes the relationship: it's measured in housing units and immigrant stability, not selfies.
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