Obama And Mamdani Sing ‘Wheels on the Bus’ With South Bronx Preschoolers in First In-Person Meeting — VIDEO
New York: Barack Obama showed up at a South Bronx child care center on Saturday to meet New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for the first time. They read Alone and Together to a room full of preschoolers, led a singalong of “Wheels on the Bus,” and by the end were doing “squish, squish, squish” with the kids. It looked exactly as it sounds.
Neither took questions afterward. Obama posted photos and called the children “cutest.” That was it from him. Mamdani wrote more. “In between singing Wheels on the Bus, we discussed our administration’s vision for this City one where New York’s Cutest have the strongest start possible,” he posted on X. His spokesperson said the same thing, roughly.
The visit came about a week after Mamdani’s 100th day in office. He’s been pushing to expand free childcare across the city, so the venue wasn’t accidental.
Child: I know your name. Mamdani.
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 18, 2026
Obama: What’s his first name?
Child: Mayor. pic.twitter.com/lXIpdt5Yzb
Obama and Mamdani have been in each other’s orbit for a while. Obama called his 2025 mayoral campaign “impressive” in a November phone call and offered to be a sounding board. He never gave him a formal public endorsement though. Mamdani won anyway and took office in January.
🚨 WATCH: Barack Obama and Zohran Mamdani sing nursery rhymes at a childcare centre in New York City pic.twitter.com/Nef04DxJ73
— The Middle East (@A_M_R_M1) April 18, 2026
Trump and Mamdani
Mamdani has also been trying to get along with Trump notable given how much of his campaign was built around criticizing him. He’s been to the White House twice, November and February, to talk New York issues. It’s been polite, mostly.
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That’s changing. Last week Trump unloaded on Mamdani’s proposed “pied-à-terre” tax a levy on secondary homes worth more than $5 million calling it an attempt to “destroy New York” and warning it would drive investment out.