Mayor Eric Adams said he had a “productive conversation” with Donald Trump on Friday that touched on a number of issues, including the effect of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement on public safety and ways to attract manufacturing jobs to the city.
Adams, in a brief statement, thanked Trump for taking the time to speak to him — just days before the inauguration — and said he looked “forward to working with him to benefit all New Yorkers.”
Adams did not say where the session took place, but the New York Times reported that he flew to Florida to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
While a functioning relationship between America’s largest city and the federal government is essential, Adams — who many Democrats turned against after his indictment on federal corruption charges in September — has shown more willingness to reach out to Trump than many top party officials.
“To be clear, we did not discuss my legal case,” Adams said, adding that “those who suggest the mayor of the largest city in the nation shouldn’t meet with the incoming president to discuss our city’s priorities because of inaccurate speculation or because we’re from different parties clearly care more about politics than people.”
Adams added in the statement that “we specifically focused on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas and how it will have a positive impact on public safety in our country; how we can bring manufacturing jobs back to New York, particularly in the Bronx; and how we can continue to make federal investments in New York City, especially when it comes to infrastructure.”
In November, Adams joined Trump at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event at Madison Square Garden and, unlike most Democrats, refused to criticize the president’s most controversial cabinet picks. Last month, he met with Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan in Gracie Mansion.
In another sign of Adams’ separation from many Democrats, he’s said he would work with the Trump administration to find ways to deport violent criminals and allow more cooperation between federal and local law enforcement on immigration. Other Democratic leaders have vowed to oppose the incoming administration’s expected immigration crackdown.
Trump mused aloud during a news conference last month about pardoning the mayor over the federal charges, though he added that he didn’t know the details of the mayor’s case. At a charity dinner speech earlier in the campaign, he said he wished Adams “good luck with everything.”
“They went after you, man,” Trump said at the Al Smith dinner in October. “But you’re gonna win.”
Adams’s critics questioned the mayor’s motives for meeting with Trump.
“Pardon me?” State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who plans on challenging Adams in the mayoral primary later this year, posted on X. “The Trump agenda is not going to help move our city or the country forward. This pilgrimage is clearly about something else.”
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also planning a run for mayor, called on Adams to immediately say that he would not accept a pardon from Trump. “New Yorkers deserve to know that their Mayor is putting their interests ahead of his own,” he wrote on X.
Adams, who has denied the charges, said in a December interview with MSNBC that he wasn’t communicating with Trump about a pardon and that his legal team is pursuing “every avenue” to fight the allegations.
