Eric Adams Heads to Mar-a-Lago to Meet With Trump
The New York mayor, who is under federal indictment, has spoken warmly about President-elect Donald J. Trump in recent weeks and has said he is open to receiving a pardon from him.
Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, his re-election chances in doubt and a federal indictment looming over him, flew to Florida on Thursday to meet with President-elect Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago just four days before the inauguration.
The mayor, a Democrat, made the trip with no advance announcement. His aides said only that the two men would discuss “New Yorkers’ priorities” when they meet on Friday.
Mr. Adams joins a diverse roster of leaders from around the world who’ve made the trip to Mar-a-Lago since the election, and he is not the first Democrat. John Fetterman, the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, met with Mr. Trump last week. Other recent visitors have included Viktor Orban, the authoritarian prime minister of Hungary, and Justin Trudeau, the liberal prime minister of Canada, who is leaving office soon.
The mayor requested the meeting, according to two people with knowledge of the trip. The city is funding the trip because it has a “city purpose,” the mayor’s spokeswoman said. No other city officials will accompany the mayor, aside from his security detail, she added.
Mr. Trump, who was convicted of 34 felonies in New York City in May, and Mr. Adams have grown publicly closer since Mr. Adams’s indictment in September on five federal corruption charges. It is part of an investigation that the mayor argues is political retribution for his criticism of President Biden’s immigration policies.
Mr. Trump has publicly commiserated with Mr. Adams and seconded his depiction of a Justice Department run amok. Mr. Adams has expressed openness to the notion of receiving a presidential pardon.