Republicans want to turn Mamdani into a bogeyman for the midterms. Trump just made that harder

NEW YORK (AP) — Earlier in the month, President Donald Trump warned voters that democratic socialists — extreme, crazed, lunatics, he called them — were threatening to transform America into “a communist country.”

This week, a smiling Trump patted on the shoulder one of the nation's best known democratic socialists, shook his hand, and said he was “off to a start” to being a great mayor of the country's largest city.

Trump's cozy relationship with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, which began last year, has confounded people across the political spectrum. But with the midterms approaching, Republicans are increasingly frustrated by the unexpected bromance, which threatens the party's message about Democratic radicalism.

“You’re trying to say, ‘Here’s how extreme they are,' and the president’s saying, ’I love this guy,” said veteran Republican strategist Doug Heye. “It doesn’t help.”

It's hard to overstate the extent to which Republicans are focused on the rise of democratic socialism in the midterm season. At a moment when the party is saddled with Trump's weak approval ratings on virtually every major issue — the economy and the war in Iran chief among them — Republicans from Georgia and Texas to New York and Michigan are working to scare voters away from Democratic candidates by warning that the party is controlled by far-left extremists.

At Trump's unusual midterm convention in Texas earlier in the month, Mamdani's name was evoked over and over again.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called the New York Mayor “Comrade Mamdani.” Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican, called him "Mamdani the commie.”

Trump sent a similar message although he didn't mention Mamdani.

“They call themselves Democrat socialists, but actually they’re communists,” he said in his keynote address. “They’re crazy.”

In all, the words socialist or socialism were referenced dozens of times during the convention.

Trump did not mention those words while standing alongside Mamdani in New York on Monday, however. The president was in town for the United Nations General Assembly and made time to swing by Gracie Mansion.

Instead, the president highlighted efforts underway to work together, noting that he's worked with numerous mayors over the years — “some great ones and some not so great ones.”

“Hopefully you’re going to be a great one,” Trump said while looking at Mamdani. “I’ll be able to say you’re going to be a great one. And you’re off to a start.”

Trump grew up in Queens, which Mamdani represented in the New York Assembly before running for mayor and winning a startling upset. He has since expanded his political power in the city, helping to push three candidates to victory in Democratic congressional primaries earlier this year.

It's possible that Trump's tone on Mamdani will shift again. After they had two surprisingly convivial meeting in the Oval Office, Trump started criticizing the mayor again.

“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance!,” Trump wrote on social media in April in apparent response to a plan to create a new tax on luxury second homes in the city. “The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG.”

Republicans in New York were quick to downplay the latest example of Trump's friendliness with Mamdani.

David Laska, a spokesperson for the New York Republican Party, said “President Trump is the greatest dealmaker in history, and he has proven repeatedly that he can deal from a position of strength with America’s enemies, be they foreign dictators or the mayor of New York City.”

Mamdani faced his own questions about why he was playing nice with a president that he's previously described as a fascist.

“The president and I have both been very frank about the many disagreements that we have,” he said Monday. "I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly, anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city."

President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speak to reporters at Gracie Mansion, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speak to reporters at Gracie Mansion, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stands by as President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference at Gracie Mansion, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Polo grew increasingly powerful Tuesday and could gain more intensity as it skirts Mexico's southwestern coast as a Category 5 cyclone, weather experts said.

Polo was an “extremely dangerous” storm with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph (290 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in an update from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft that was sent into the cyclone.

It was the third Category 5 hurricane of the Pacific season, following Genevieve and Lowell earlier this year. Category 5 is the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale, reflecting that a storm has maximum sustained winds exceeding 157 mph (253 kph).

Polo was centered 210 miles (338 kilometers) south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and nearly stationary over the Pacific Ocean at midday. The hurricane center update said Polo was expected to travel in a generally west-northwestward direction over the next several days.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico issued a weather alert, instructing citizens to avoid water and beaches and to heed warnings from Mexican authorities.

“Even if the storm does not make direct landfall, heavy rain may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides. Hazardous ocean conditions—intensified by storms—may result in deadly rip currents and rogue waves,” the Embassy wrote in a statement.

Mexican authorities temporarily suspended classes in a number of areas along the Pacific coast as Polo brushed along the coastline on Tuesday. Many residents were on edge this week watching the rapidly intensifying hurricane plow by. In recent years, the Pacific coastal states of Guerrero and Oaxaca have been ravaged by powerful hurricanes walloping the coast, with a number of communities still picking up the pieces.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in her morning press briefing that experts had indicated that the hurricane was not likely to touch land. Mexico’s Navy shut down ports in the states of Guerrero and Michoacán as a precaution and warned civilians and fishermen to take care.

In Acapulco, the region’s most important port city that was left reeling by a devastating hurricane in 2023, fishing boats normally bobbing in the ocean were pulled onshore on empty beaches as waves and dark clouds swirled nearby.

Heavy rain could produce flash flooding and mudslides. About 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 centimeters) of rain was forecast for Guerrero and Michoacán states, with smaller amounts possible for coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima and Jalisco states. Strong winds and rough surf were also expected.

Tropical Storm Odalys was also in the Pacific Ocean but far from land. The cyclone was expected to become a hurricane sometime Tuesday, the hurricane center said. Odalys had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph).

In the Atlantic Ocean, Fay weakened to a tropical depression. Maximum sustained winds were down to 35 mph (56 kph) Tuesday and the system was far southwest of the Azores. Forecasters said it would be a remnant low later in the day.

No Atlantic hurricanes have formed yet this year, and this year has set a record for the longest a season has begun without a hurricane. The effects of this year’s El Nino crush storms before they get going.

This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo strengthening in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Fay, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Odalys, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo intensifying in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (NOAA via AP)