NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams will meet with President-elect Donald Trump Friday in Mar-a-Lago as federal corruption charges against Adams continue.
Trump, who will be sworn in three days later, has the power to pardon Adams.
The choice to fly down to Florida to meet the Republican president at his home, which doubles as his transition headquarters, presents an enormous political risk for the Democratic mayor as he struggles to defend his seat this year. It follows months of him parting ways with fellow Democrats to treat Trump with kid gloves, while publicly admonishing outgoing President Joe Biden for his handling of immigration.
In a statement following the New York Times breaking the news, top Adams aide Fabien Levy said partnering with the incoming Trump administration is key to the city’s success.
He notably omitted any mention that Adams is facing potential prison time for a five-count federal indictment. Prosecutors in September charged him in a bribery and straw donation scheme for which he has pleaded not guilty. He is set to stand trial in April, just two months before the Democratic primary.
The case has cost him millions of dollars in matching funds and he is in substantial debt to his attorneys. His approval rating numbers — under water before the indictment — have continued to suffer.
“Mayor Adams has made quite clear his willingness to work with President-elect Trump and his incoming administration on behalf of New Yorkers — and that partnership with the federal government is critical to New York City’s success,” Levy said in a statement. “Tomorrow, Mayor Adams will sit down with President-elect Trump and discuss New Yorkers’ priorities. The mayor looks forward to having a productive conversation with the incoming president on how we can move our city and country forward.”
Try as the Adams team will to divorce this meeting from his legal case, his election opponents will not allow it.
“Who is this meeting for, New Yorkers or Eric Adams?” said former City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who is challenging Adams in the Democratic primary. “Our city has too many problems right now for us to worry about if he’s fighting for New Yorkers or a hypothetical pardon for himself.”
Another rival, comptroller Brad Lander, said: “Eric Adams should state immediately that he will not seek or accept a pardon from Donald Trump. New Yorkers deserve to know that their mayor is putting their interests ahead of his own — and whether our tax dollars, or Turkish Airlines, will be financing the his trip to Florida.” (His quote was a reference to charges Adams accepted flight upgrades in exchange for official favors.)
Trump has openly expressed interest in pardoning Adams, and has said they face similarly bogus charges from a politicized Department of Justice — a view the mayor shares. Adams on multiple occasions has said he believes he was punished for criticizing Biden and told POLITICO — when asked earlier this month if he has proof of that — that he believes he was targeted by Biden’s team, even if not by the outgoing president himself.
“I was targeted because of my stance to protect the city from the migrants and asylum seeker issues that we were facing,” Adams said during a recent appearance on a local ABC affiliate. “And I have a legal team that [is] going to pursue every avenue to get the justice that I deserve.”
As POLITICO has reported, there are several other ways Trump could provide assistance to the New York City mayor.
Short of accepting a pardon, even sitting down with Trump could have significant consequences for the mayor over the coming year as he faces a narrow path to reelection. Accepting any support from the GOP standard-bearer is likely to lead to a significant backlash among voters deciding whether to support Adams for a second term, and is sure to become a favorite line of attack from his opponents.
“The flirting with Trump is not helpful for him in the Black community,” Al Sharpton told POLITICO a few weeks ago. “If I was between a rock and a hard place and the only one that could deliver me is Donald Trump I would be preparing for my bye-bye.”
The “flirting” to which he referred involved Adams hosting Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, at Gracie Mansion, where the two discussed the possibility of the Trump administration helping to rewrite New York’s sanctuary city laws that govern cooperation between the NYPD and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Adams — a moderate at odds with the left flank of his party — also dined with a Trump surrogate from Long Island on Tuesday.