New York City Mayor Eric Adams has strenuously denied in public that he has any plans to abandon his re-election bid — but a New York Times report reveals he is actively considering President Donald Trump's scheme to give him an administration job to bow out of the race.
"In private, Mr. Adams has told a small group of friends and advisers that he is seriously considering job opportunities that could prompt him to suspend his re-election campaign, according to people familiar with the conversations," said the report. "The talks about Mr. Adams’s future have involved intermediaries for President Trump, including Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate investor who is one of Mr. Trump’s closest advisers. The mayor and Mr. Witkoff conferred in Florida this week in a previously undisclosed meeting, according to four people briefed on it."
Adams' office made multiple cover stories to hide his meeting with a Trump adviser, first claiming he was away on a "personal matter," then saying he was celebrating his birthday in Miami, then saying he was meeting with unspecified "political figures."
According to sources earlier this week, Trump's thinking is that by removing Adams from the race, and potentially making a similar deal to get Republican Curtis Sliwa to bow out, it would clear the field for disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Trump sees as the strongest candidate to defeat left-wing Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Cuomo, who resigned from the governorship amid extensive evidence of sexual misconduct, previously sought the Democratic nomination himself and was widely seen as the frontrunner through much of the campaign, but lost in a shock upset to Mamdani, a Muslim and longtime socialist activist who ran on a platform of fixing New York City's cost-of-living crisis. Cuomo has vowed to continue in the general election under a different ballot line, and despite running in the primary on a platform vowing to take on Trump, has himself privately spoken with the president.
Adams has for months been a clear underdog to win re-election, following explosive reports of corruption that included criminal charges of accepting bribes from individuals connected to the Turkish government. The Trump administration pulled that indictment, with many experts suspecting he did so to ensure Adams' ongoing cooperation with immigration raids. Since then, the Adams campaign has been caught handing out cash to journalists in a chip bag.