Eric Adams returns from Trump meeting to voters wary of the president-elect

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams tried to appeal to his base of Black Democrats at a Martin Luther King Jr. event Saturday, one day after dining with a politician of whom they disapprove: President-elect Donald Trump.

Several hours later, the federally indicted Adams dodged when pressed on whether any aspect of his criminal case came up during his meeting with Trump, who has the power to pardon him. The evening prior, Adams issued a statement saying only, “we did not discuss my legal case.”

“I answered the question over and over again about my case,” Adams said at his press conference Saturday. “I have an attorney to handle that.”

“If people want to speculate, that’s their right to speculate,” he added.

The mayor barely mentioned Trump during his remarks at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day forum hosted by Al Sharpton in Harlem. Instead, he referenced the FBI’s probe into the slain civil rights icon and prosecutors’ decision this week to drop a bribery case against former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, who is Black.

In invoking those circumstances, the mayor criticized the “politicizing of investigatory bodies” and once again suggested without evidence that he was targeted by a vengeful Department of Justice.

The city’s second Black mayor spoke to a receptive audience as he portrayed himself as a victim of a lifetime of persecution. He also criticized the outgoing Biden administration — a posture that aligns with Trump’s — by lamenting the surge in migrants that he says cost New York $6.9 billion.

“I don’t care if it’s a Democrat, Republican, socialist. I don’t care who’s the president,” said the moderate Democrat, who admonishes the left flank of his party far more often than he does the GOP. “I’m going to defend this city because those are your dollars.”

Virtually every other speaker at the Democrat-dominated event issued dire warnings about Trump’s agenda. Sharpton is organizing buses for a Washington rally Monday to serve as counterprogramming three miles from where Trump will be sworn in.

Adams won a competitive Democratic primary in 2021 with the majority of Black voters, but polling showed his support among his base began eroding before his indictment. A poll in late 2023 found 48 percent of Black voters approved of his job performance — still his most supportive demographic, but a significant drop from the majority who vaulted him into office.

Sharpton, a civil rights leader and MSNBC host, cautioned Adams against a president who vows to nix diversity measures and deport undocumented immigrants, including those from African nations.

“I think that he has to be very careful,” Sharpton said in an interview with POLITICO. “Yes, he should meet [Trump] as the mayor, but if he starts looking like he’s an extension of his politics, that can hurt.”

Sharpton refused to question Adams’ motives for meeting Trump in Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago estate.

“I’m in a wait-and-watch-and-warning mode,” Sharpton said, cautioning Adams’ closeness to Trump risks him losing Black voters to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is mulling a run for mayor. “I think Eric has got to work his base. And I think that no one should take Andrew for granted. Andrew has a lot of name recognition. And he’s had a lot of support in the Black community.”

He recently told POLITICO, “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.”

Adams and his longtime adviser Frank Carone lunched with Trump, Trump’s son Eric and Steve Witkoff, the New York City real estate developer and Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, The New York Times reported.

Carone — who launched a consulting and lobbying firm after leaving city government — was instrumental in setting up the confab, three people with knowledge of the situation told POLITICO. On Saturday, the mayor said his trusted confidante was present because Carone has a house in Florida and did not require any taxpayer dollars for his journey. The ex-city employee is also an attorney.

“You don’t tell the president who he wants to sit down and talk with,” Adams said, when asked why he didn’t attend the meeting with high-ranking city employees. “He wanted a small conversation.”

In response to Sharpton’s anti-Trump warnings, Adams pointed to the general election results as evidence Americans want changes to immigration policy and the economy. And he said it does New York City no good to antagonize the incoming administration.

“I can’t say it any clearer: I pledge allegiance to the United States of America, not to a party,” Adams said. “The [Democratic] party that’s in office took $6.9 billion out of our city.”

What he didn’t mention is that Trump lost New York City to Kamala Harris 70-30. And Adams is facing a primary electorate in an off-cycle year, when the most devout Democrats typically head to the polls.

Adams had been courting Trump for months.

During the presidential campaign, the big-city Democrat refused to criticize Trump, but he was quick to unload on Biden’s White House over immigration policy. Once Trump clinched the general election, Adams praised controversial cabinet picks like Elon Musk.

In mid-November, he exchanged words with Trump at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in New York City. And last month, Adams hosted Trump border czar Tom Homan at Gracie Mansion, where the two discussed the Trump administration helping to rewrite local “sanctuary city” laws.

On Saturday, the mayor did not rule out attending Trump’s inauguration Monday.

Adams’ spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said the city paid for the trip because the mayor was on official business advocating for New Yorkers. Mamelak Altus added that the mayor flew commercial, but she declined to say where he stayed Thursday night, citing a security risk.

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