Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect of New York City, and president Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office. Photograph: Eric Lee/The New York TimesStep by slimy step, US president Donald Trump has made us numb to his crudeness and cruelty. On Air Force One recently, Trump cut off Catherine Lucey, a Bloomberg News journalist pressing him about the release of Epstein files that could further implicate Trump in the lurid mess. By contrast, Trump was his most charming self Friday in his “fascist vs socialist” meeting with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. The president, ordinarily a master at recasting reality, had to give up his ludicrous attempt to paint the Epstein files as a Democratic hoax.

Source: The Irish Times November 23, 2025 14:41 UTC