When has Eric Adams opposed Donald Trump?

In hindsight, a friendly, collaborative New York City mayor probably wasn’t going to keep President Donald Trump at bay forever. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice sued New York City officials – including Mayor Eric Adams – over the city’s sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants. The suit came in an already active week for New York City's relationship with the Trump administration. Earlier in the week, Adams signed a letter urging the federal government to inspect conditions at a federal immigration court in Manhattan where immigrants are being detained for days at a time. 

Adams has a unique relationship with Trump for a Democratic mayor of the country's largest (and largely blue) city. Adams declined to criticize Trump during the campaign last fall. After Trump took office, his Department of Justice had the corruption charges filed against Adams last year dismissed, removing a huge financial, political and legal stumbling block from Adams' path. Both Adams and Trump have denied that having those charges dropped was part of a quid pro quo agreement to get Adams to go along with Trump's agenda in New York City. But Adams has aligned himself with many aspects of Trump’s immigration agenda and continued to refuse to criticize the president, saying that his goal is “not warring with the president, but working with the president.” Adams’ office has pushed back against the notion that the mayor’s relationship with the Trump administration has changed this week, pointing to a variety of legal actions the city has taken against the federal administration – ranging from the more directly defiant to under-the-radar.

Here are some of the more significant instances of the city pushing back on the Trump Administration.

FEMA lawsuit

In one of its first acts of defiance, New York City sued the Trump administration for the $80 million in FEMA funds the president clawed back in February. The lawsuit called the action “lawless” and directly named Trump as a plaintiff. Adams addressed the issue at the time in a statement and called the FEMA funds the “bare minimum” that taxpayers deserve after the city spent over $7 billion to provide services for a large influx of migrants starting in 2022. That lawsuit is still ongoing.

Joining the MTA’s congestion pricing lawsuit 

The city joined the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s lawsuit against the Trump administration in April. The MTA initially filed the suit in February with Gov. Kathy Hochul after Trump tried to block the agency’s congestion pricing program by rescinding federal approval for the tolls. Earlier in the year, Adams avoided the battle by claiming congestion pricing was a state-run program and not a city issue. Then in April, the city’s top lawyer, Muriel Goode-Trufant, wrote a memorandum supporting the state’s suit. While one of the more high-profile instances of the city joining a suit against Trump, a mayoral spokesperson claimed at the time that Goode-Trufant acts independently of the mayor as the city’s corporation counsel, even though the mayor appoints the position. Still, today, this legal action is one that the mayor’s office points to as evidence that it’s willing to take on Trump. 

In one of the other lawsuits against the federal administration, the city joined seven other local governments in challenging new conditions that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development imposed on housing grants.

Amicus briefs in support of detained immigrant high school students 

The city filed amicus briefs in support of Dylan Lopez Contreras, Jose Luis, and Derlis Snaider Chusin Toaquiza, who were detained after they attended mandatory immigration hearings. Contreras and Snaider were high school students at the time and Luis was a former high school student in the city. Adams has been criticized by other Democrats and immigration advocates for aligning with Trump on immigration, but the mayor’s support for enforcement has largely been focused on immigrants who have been accused of violent crime. The brief emphasized how significantly immigrants contribute to the city and that the city is less safe when immigrants are afraid of engaging with law enforcement and city programs. 

The city has filed a number of other amicus briefs and declarations in support of litigation against the Trump administration. Among them are lawsuits challenging mass layoffs of federal employees and Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship. The city has also weighed in against the Trump administration’s threats to grant funding for infectious disease prevention, natural disaster preparedness, and violence intervention and justice programs, among others. The city also filed a declaration in support of a suit from state attorneys general against the Trump administration’s attempt to restrict safety net programs based on immigration status, saying it would threaten access to youth mental health programs.

Letter about 26 Federal Plaza 

The mayor sent a letter to Michael Rigas, the newly hired Administrator of the General Services Administration, on Wednesday to inspect the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza where immigrants are currently detained. “The lack of clarity and transparency surrounding the facility’s current use raises serious concerns,” the mayor wrote. The letter followed publication of a video that showed a detention room full of immigrants lying on the floor on mylar blankets and sleeping pads that could indicate people were sleeping there for extended periods of time. Adams suggested that these conditions may contradict claims from the federal government that the building was not a detention facility. Adams, however, has not directed city agencies to inspect the federal premises – as fellow citywide officials Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams called on him to do.