Mayor Adams declined Tuesday to offer his thoughts on President Trump’s trade wars, federal funding cuts or the potential impact on New Yorkers amid criticism that the government’s move to dismiss his criminal indictment has left him overly beholden to the Trump administration.
Adams has said he will not publicly disparage Trump and instead bring concerns to the president directly, although at his weekly press briefing Tuesday he said that he hadn’t done so regarding the economic issues that have left New Yorkers anxiously wondering about everything from their electric bills to 401-K plans.
The mayor also declined to offer an opinion on ICE’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia grad student targeted because of his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests. Khalil’s arrest has sparked outrage and protests across the city.
“No, I haven’t had those conversations with him about these,” Adams said on Monday when asked whether he had spoken with Trump on the economic issues.
“Anything that impacts New Yorkers concerns me,” Adams said in response to a question about whether he was concerned about the tariffs at the press conference Monday.
But, he continued, “That’s the role of the federal government. I don’t control that, and I think that the federal government must make the determination on what, how that plays out.”
Adams is facing allegations that he’s been compromised after the Justice Department moved to drop his federal corruption indictment in February on the basis that it held the mayor back from assisting with some of Trump’s policy objectives, particularly immigration. The department proposed the case be dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be reinstated.
In a filing last week, an independent attorney appointed by the judge in Adams’ case wrote that to dismiss his case without prejudice — so that it could be brought back at any point — left a “sword of Damocles” hanging over Adams.
The judge in the case is currently weighing a decision.
The mayor has both denied the charges in the indictment and that there was any quid pro quo between him and the president.
When asked Tuesday if his response to Khalil’s arrest was further fueling concerns he’s overly beholden to Trump, Adams accused his critics of being “unwilling” to fight for New Yorkers, saying they didn’t back him up when the city was dealing with the migrant crisis, which he blames on the Biden administration.
“Listen, I got opinions about a lot of things, but my opinion cannot govern the public safety of the city,” the mayor said, adding that the decision to deport is up to the federal government and that the city does not cooperate with ICE on civil enforcement efforts.
The mayor has also faced backlash for not speaking out on other issues involving the Trump administration, including controversial executive orders, and has told other city officials not to speak out against Trump themselves on social media.
Along with the rest of the nation, New York is facing economic uncertainty under the Trump administration on multiple fronts.
After the president escalated a trade war against Canada this week, doubling down on tariffs, the stock market sank. The province of Ontario imposed a 25% electricity surcharge on New York and two other states following similar tariffs from Trump on products imported from Canada on Monday. It’s unclear how much New York City would be impacted by Canada’s move or the other tariffs.
The surcharge was suspended Tuesday, allowing the conflict to cool off a bit. Trump backed down on a threat to farther increase the Canadian tariffs.
Budget experts have also flagged potential federal funding cuts that could slash Medicaid, SNAP and immigration funding.
“Anytime you attempt to cut anything, there’s an advocacy group who wants to fight against it,” Adams said at his press briefing.
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