Adams reportedly met with members of Trump’s team during a trip to Florida this week
Published
September 4, 2025 11:26AM (EDT)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams arrives for a court hearing at Thurgood Marshall Courthouse on February 19, 2025 in New York City. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is brushing off reports that he might abandon his reelection campaign after reports emerged that President Donald Trump’s administration has explored offering him a post in federal government.
Politico reported on Wednesday that Adams met with members of Trump’s team during a trip to Florida this week and that Adams had been offered a role at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The New York Times first reported the maneuver, including the idea of also appointing Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to an administration job.
The move has been floated as a way to clear the field for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as Republicans, moderate and corporate Democrats, and business leaders look for ways to stop Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. Polls suggest Mamdani remains the frontrunner in the general election, though Cuomo, now running as an independent, could be more competitive in a one-on-one race. Mamdani easily won the June’s Democratic primary over Cuomo and a number of other candidates.
Adams’ campaign has denied that he’s considering a federal job.
“Mayor Adams has not met with Donald Trump — don’t believe the noise. He is not dropping out of the race,” the mayor’s campaign spokesperson, Todd Shapiro, said in a statement.
But his other public comments have been cautious.
“If there’s any changes in this race, I will announce that,” he told Fox 5 New York on Wednesday.
Pressed about whether he met with Trump officials in Florida, Adams said only that he had spoken with “several political figures.”
Mamdani quickly seized on the reports. “Today’s news confirms it: Cuomo is Trump’s choice for mayor,” he posted on X, while later telling reporters the overtures were “an affront to democracy.”
“We know that this city will decide its own future. And we know that it is New Yorkers that we will turn to to make that decision in November, not the White House in Washington, D.C.,” he said during a Wednesday press conference.
Sliwa has said he is “not interested” in an administration job. “My focus is right here in New York,” he said in a statement, according to the Times.
Cuomo’s campaign declined to comment to Politico, though the outlet has previously reported that the former governor has privately welcomed signs of Trump’s involvement.
By
Blaise Malley
Blaise Malley is a national affairs fellow at Salon.
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