US President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to reference the newly trending name Zohran Mamdani in his speech. Mamdani, who serves as New York City mayor and stands at stark ideological and political odds with Trump, was nonetheless acknowledged by the US president.
From the podium during his State of the Union address, Trump referred to Mamdani and said, “Bad policy, but nice guy.”
Trump called Zohran Mamdani a “communist” but also described him as a “nice guy,” adding that he speaks to him "a lot".
Addressing the 2026 State of the Union, Trump said, "... 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 Security card. Yet they don't want identification for the greatest privilege of them all, voting in America..."
Meanwhile, this was the longest State of the Union address made by any president since The American Presidency Project began keeping records in 1964.
The remark came as Trump pressed Congress to pass an elections bill known as the SAVE America Act. The legislation would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship in person when registering to vote in federal elections and introduce photo ID requirements for voting.
