Former US President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani spent Saturday singing “Wheels on the Bus” with preschoolers at the Learning Through Play Pre-K in the Bronx, New York.
The duo can be seen getting fully into the nursery rhyme as they sang along with the pre-schoolers and waved their arms in a ‘squeeze, squeeze, squeeze’ style.
Obama also shared pictures from the preschool visit on X, writing, “Great time with New York City’s Cutest. And thanks to the mayor of NYC for giving me an excuse to do my best ‘Wheels on the Bus.'”
Obama and Mamdani took no questions after reading “Alone and Together” to the children and singing “The Wheels on the Bus.”
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After reading and singing with the children, Obama said, “This is what we need to invest in these wonderful children.”
The visit comes amid Mamdani’s efforts to expand free child care programs throughout New York.
Obama-Mamadani meeting
Barack Obama’s meeting with Zohran Mamdani comes as the democratic socialist, who marked his 100th day in office less than a week ago, is also trying to build a working relationship with Republican US President Donald Trump.
Obama and Mamdani met briefly privately before joining a reading class, according to a CNN report, citing sources.
Their team has been eager to arrange a meeting between the two leaders since Mamdani’s election last November, the source said, adding that the opportunity arose in recent days as Obama was scheduled to be in New York this weekend.
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“Amid chants on the bus, the two leaders discussed the mayor’s vision for the city and the importance of giving New York’s Cutest the strongest possible launch,” Mamdani’s spokesman Joe Calvello said in a statement.
The former two-term president and standard-bearer for the Democratic Party has offered to be a resonance for Mamdani, 34, whose star power, youth and progressive agenda have made him stand out in Democratic politics.
Mamdani took office in January after campaigning to make New York City a more affordable place to live, centering his agenda on refocusing the government’s vast power to help the city’s struggling working class.
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The Mamdani-Trump relationship
Zohran Mamdani met with Donald Trump twice in November and February at the White House to discuss issues concerning New York.
Despite these friendly encounters, their relationship has shown signs of strain recently, with Trump posting on social media Thursday that Mamdani is “ruining New York” with his tax policies and threatening to withdraw federal funding for the city.
“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is RUINING New York! He has no chance! The United States of America should not contribute to his failure. It will only get WORSE. TAXES, TAXES, TAX policy is SO BAD,” Trump wrote. “People are fleeing. They need to change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven that THESE “THINGS” JUST DON’T WORK.”
Mamdani did not say whether he had spoken to Trump since his social media post, but said he was not surprised that Trump disagreed with the policy.
