Democratic Mayor Eric Adams will attend Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, DC on Monday, his team announced early this morning.
Fabien Levy, Adams’ deputy mayor for Communications, revealed in a social media post that Trump’s team invited Adams overnight.
“In the early hours of Monday morning, the Trump administration reached out inviting Mayor Adams to attend the inauguration at the incoming administration’s request,” Levy said. “Mayor Adams accepted on behalf of New York City. 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.”
Kayla Mamelak-Altus, another mayoral spokesperson, said Adams drove down to DC sometime after midnight after receiving the invitation through Steve Witkoff, Trump’s nominee for special envoy to the Middle East.
The announcement came after Adams’ press office sent out a public schedule Sunday night showing he planned to speak at a series of Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in the Big Apple.
Shortly after Levy’s statement went out, his office issued a new schedule showing Adams would appear at the inauguration and not the local MLK Day events. It is the first time since 2013, when Barack Obama began his second term as president, that Inauguration Day fell on MLK Day.
Adams, in a post on his official X account later Monday morning, attempted to connect the inauguration with MLK Day.
“Inauguration Day is a sacred American tradition,” Adams said. “Our country has been through so much, and every president has the honor and responsibility to protect and lead the American people. On MLK Day, like Reverend Dr. King said, we must put partisan politics aside to do what’s best for our country. I believe there’s much we can achieve working alongside the federal government as we support our city’s values and fight for New Yorkers.”
The mayor’s sudden move comes after weeks of him saying he was still deciding whether to attend Trump’s inauguration given his busy local schedule for MLK Day. It also follows a Friday meeting between the mayor and Trump at the incoming president’s golf course in Palm Beach.
Hanging over all of Adams’ interactions with Trump is speculation that he is seeking a pardon from the president-elect in the case that he gets convicted on federal corruption charges. Adams is set to stand trial in April over the five criminal counts and could face prison time if he is found guilty.
The mayor insisted on Saturday that he did not discuss his legal case with Trump in the Friday meeting.
Trump has publicly sympathized with Adams’ case, stating without evidence that the mayor was politically targeted by outgoing President Biden’s Justice Department and expressed openness to pardoning him last month.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running against Adams in this year’s Democratic mayoral primary, alleged in a social media post that the mayor’s trip was purely motivated by his alleged desire for a pardon.
“Imagine if Mayor Adams applied the same focus to making our city safer and bringing down our cost of living as he does to getting himself a pardon,” Lander said.
Another mayoral challenger, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn), took a similar shot at Adams in his own post.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” Myrie wrote, quoting MLK. “Dr. King urged us to put community above self. New Yorkers deserve a Mayor who puts our city’s wellbeing above his own exoneration.”
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