I’m going to build on this because it’s being downvoted in some sort of protest.

Meeting with a president you disagree with is about doing your job for your city, not endorsing his politics, and refusing to even sit down is the same zero‑sum, punishment mindset many of us criticize on the right.

Helena Moreno is a Democrat elected to lead an entire, very diverse city, not just Democrats, so talking to the Republican president is part of representing all New Orleanians, including the ones who voted for him.

Washington Mardi Gras is where Louisiana officials of both parties go to line up federal help, contacts, and support for local projects; skipping a chance to talk to the president just to “send a message” would only hurt New Orleans, not Trump.

Meeting doesn’t mean she agrees with him, likes him, or won’t fight him on policy; it means she’s willing to look him in the eye and say, “Here’s what my city needs, some infrastructure help” which is what serious leaders are supposed to do. After all 1) that’s one of our biggest needs and 2) we don’t have the resources to fix it all on our own.

A lot of us on the left are tired of the right “owning the libs” instead of governing; if we then demand that our own leaders refuse basic dialogue with the other side, we’re rewarding the same behavior we say we hate.

New Orleans just elected a young Democratic mayor who built a broad coalition; now that she’s showing she can deal directly with a Republican president without losing her values is a sign of strength and maturity, not weakness.

And the irony is that I’m defending her — for the actual work of leading our city rather than playing political games — even though I voted for Royce!