Slop.

Real talk though, here's my initial assumptions about what could've gone down here:

1. Zohran capitulated on a bunch of stuff, promised that he won't rock the boat much and will slow down now he won the election
2. Trump really does just trust the last person he talked with, and Zohran did a good job of just appearing like a smart and polite guy to get on Trump's good side
3. The mere fact that Zohran spoke English fluently, used honorifics, and obviously wasn't a jihadist caught Trump off guard.
4. Trump is in a weak spot right now because of all the bad press and he's desperate to leech off some good will from someone who is much more popular (i.e. the title of this post)

I initially was writing these as separate possibilities but now that I read them over, I think the most likely explanation is that some part of all 4 of these is true and that's why they were so unexpectedly conciliatory.