Trump voices support for Eric Adams, threatens Zohran Mamdani

President Donald Trump praised New York City Mayor Eric Adams Monday, describing him as a “very good person” as Adams faces an uphill reelection battle. Trump also threatened to arrest Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani if he interferes with immigration enforcement as mayor, called him a “communist” and questioned Mamdani’s legal status.

“You have a good independent running: Mayor Adams who is a very good person. I helped him out a little bit. He had a problem and he was unfairly hurt,” Trump said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon about a migrant detention center in Florida, apparently referencing the five-count federal indictment against Adams that the Justice Department dismissed earlier this year after Trump became president.

Trump also harshly criticized Mamdani, falsely calling him a communist – a word he’s used several times since the democratic socialist lawmaker triumphed in the mayoral primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo – and threatened to watch him closely. Asked about Mamdani and his vow to stand up to federal immigration authorities on behalf of immigrant New Yorkers, Trump questioned Mamdani’s immigration status, claiming that a “lot of people are saying he’s here illegally.” While Mamdani has indeed recently been subject to an onslaught of Islamophobic and racist attacks on his Muslim faith and ethnic identity, he is unequivocally a legal U.S. citizen. He was born in Uganda to Indian parents, moved to New York City when he was 7 and officially became an American citizen in 2018. 

At an unrelated press conference, Adams briefly addressed Trump’s comments about Mamdani. “Anyone that is an elected or not should never interfere with federal authorities carrying out their functions,” Adams said. “The president makes his determination what he's going to do. I'm not a federal elected official.”

Trump’s reference to helping the mayor out relates to the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year asking that corruption charges filed against Adams last year – under the Biden administration – be dropped, which they eventually were. The move effectively eliminated a major time, money and viability drain for Adams’ chances at reelection, though he still faces substantial challenges in a couple of those areas. Leading up to that move, Adams had been cozying up to Trump – declining to enthusiastically campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris in last November’s presidential election, refusing to criticize Trump after he was elected, and agreeing to work with the Trump administration on immigration enforcement. The former top prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office that brought the corruption charges against Adams alleged that the mayor’s legal team “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo” in discussions about dropping the case and collaborating with the Trump administration on immigration enforcement – allegations which Adams and his legal team has denied, but the judge in the case concurred “smacks of a bargain.”

A spokesperson for Adams’ reelection campaign had not heard Trump’s comments before being contacted by City & State, and did not immediately provide a response in time for publication. 

“(Trump’s) statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you. We will not accept this intimidation,” Mamdani said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

When a Fox News journalist asked Adams whether he’d seek Trump’s endorsement on Monday, he didn’t shut down the prospect. “Any New Yorker that wants to vote for me I’m all for,” Adams said.