Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) play-nice approach to President Donald Trump has become an early template for Zohran Mamdani as he prepares for a White House clash as New York mayor.

Since winning the mayorship last week, Mamdani has made clear he would not “mince” words with Trump, who taunts him as a “communist” and threatened to pull funding from New York City if he won.