NYC Mayor Eric Adams attended Trump's inauguration after last-minute invitation

Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News on Jan 20, 2025

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Mayor Eric Adams attended Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday after getting a last-minute invite from the president-elect that led him to cancel appearances at multiple Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in New York.

Adams — whose simpatico relationship with Trump has prompted speculation he’s looking for legal help with his federal corruption case — didn’t receive a call from Trump’s team until around 2 a.m. Monday informing him the incoming president had personally asked he attend the inauguration, according to a City Hall spokeswoman.

The mayor, who met privately with Trump just this past Friday, then hit the road before dawn in order to get to Washington, D.C. in time for Trump’s noon inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, the spokeswoman said.

“As the mayor has repeatedly said, America has chosen a new national leader and we must work together to build a safer, stronger, and more affordable in New York City,” Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said in a statement on the 11th-hour jaunt to the capital.

In order to make the trip, the conservative Democrat mayor canceled planned appearances at MLK Day celebrations in Brooklyn and Manhattan that had been put on his official public schedule just after midnight Sunday.

On Friday, in a move blasted by some of his fellow Democrats, Adams met privately with Trump at his namesake golf club in Florida. Adams, who faces multiple challengers in June’s Democratic mayoral primary, said in a statement after the Florida meeting that he didn’t discuss his “legal case” with Trump during the sit-down.

He declined to tell reporters Saturday whether the more specific issue of a presidential pardon came up in his talk with Trump.

In September, Manhattan federal prosecutors indicted Adams on criminal charges alleging he took bribes and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish government operatives in exchange for political favors.

Adams, who has pleaded not guilty, claims without evidence that his prosecution is politically motivated, stemming from his criticism of outgoing President Joe Biden’s handling of the national migrant crisis.

Trump, the first convicted felon to become president, has echoed the political prosecution claims and said last month he would consider pardoning Adams for his alleged crimes, insisting the mayor’s being treated “unfairly.”

When asked whether he would accept a pardon from Trump, Adams has only said his legal team is exploring every possibility of ensuring “justice.”