Obama, Mamdani read to preschoolers in New York

STORYTELLERS Former President Barack Obama and Mayor Zohran Mamdani sing “Wheels on the Bus” during a shared reading event at Learning Through Play Pre-K in the Bronx in New York, on Saturday. —AP

Former President Barack Obama met with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for the first time on Saturday at a child care center where they read to preschoolers and led a sing-along.

The meeting comes as Mamdani, a democratic socialist who marked his 100th day in office just over a week ago, is also trying to build a working relationship with Republican President Donald Trump.

Obama and Mamdani did not take questions after reading the book “Alone and Together” to the children and leading a sing-along of “Wheels on the Bus.”

The former two-term president and standard-bearer for the Democratic Party has offered to be a sounding board for Mamdani, 34, whose star power, youth and progressive agenda has made him stand out in Democratic politics.

Signs of strain with Trump

Mamdani took office in January after a campaign centered on making New York City a more affordable place to live, centering his agenda on refocusing the vast power of government toward helping the city’s struggling working class.

Mamdani has met twice with Trump at the White House in November and February to discuss issues affecting New York.

Despite those friendly meetings, their relationship has shown signs of strain recently, with Trump posting on social media on Thursday that Mamdani was “DESTROYING New York” with his taxing policies and threatened to pull federal funding for the city.