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Giuliani: 'Sick to My Stomach' Seeing Mayor-Elect Mamdani With Trump in the Oval Office

Rudy Giuliani said he felt "sick to his stomach" after seeing incoming NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani — whom he called a "communist" — standing beside President Trump in the Oval Office. Trump described the meeting as a "Great Honor" and appeared unbothered by Mamdani's prior criticism. Giuliani, who led New York after 9/11 and later served as Trump's lawyer, accused Mamdani of sympathizing with "extremist fundamentalist Islam" and suggested a priest bless the Oval Office. The remarks reflect the polarized reactions to the bipartisan encounter.

05:02 AM, 11/23/2025Politics

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said he was "sick to my stomach" after seeing incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani — whom he labeled a "communist" — standing beside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Trump appeared unusually cordial during the meeting, later calling it a "Great Honor" on his social platform and downplaying Mamdani's earlier description of him as a "fascist." Giuliani reacted strongly to the optics of the encounter, saying the presidency is a role he values deeply after serving for eight years as New York's mayor.

"It was unexpected, I'll say. I expected it to be cordial; they always are with the president. And the president conducts himself that way," Giuliani said in an interview. "To see it go to a child, irresponsible, ne'er-do-well communist is frightening. It makes me sick to my stomach to see that man in the Oval Office."

Giuliani also accused Mamdani of having a "very, very strong embrace" of what he called "extremist fundamentalist Islam," a claim presented here as the former mayor's allegation rather than an established fact.

Giuliani, who led New York City during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and was widely praised for his leadership at that time, later served as legal counsel to President Trump. He has since been disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., following his promotion of false claims about the 2020 presidential election.

On the meeting, Giuliani said: "Do I think it was a smart way to start? Sure. And now any deterioration in the relationship will be by the communist and Islamic extremist sympathizer, not by the president. Of course I want to see New York City do well. I'd like to see myself wrong about him. He could change. But that doesn't belie the fact that it makes me sick to my stomach." He added, half-jokingly, that "it might not be a bad idea to get a Catholic priest to come in and bless the place now."

Why this matters

The exchange highlights the unusual public cordiality between President Trump and a progressive, Democratic socialist mayor-elect — a moment that drew sharp criticism from some conservatives and raised questions about how the new New York City administration and the White House will interact going forward.

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