The New York City mayor, Eric Adams, is scheduled to meet with Donald Trump at the incoming president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday.
The visit between the two men comes amid speculation that Adams, who faces a federal indictment over corruption charges, hopes to seek a pardon from Trump and amid moves that have been widely seen as his attempt to get politically closer to the incoming US president.
In December, Trump said that he would “certainly look at” a pardon for the moderate Democrat, adding: “I think he was treated pretty unfairly.”
Describing the upcoming meeting, Adams’s spokesperson, Fabien Levy, said on Thursday that the mayor and Trump would “discuss New Yorkers’ priorities” and that Adams “looks forward to having a productive conversation with the incoming president on how we can move our city and country forward”.
According to people familiar with the trip, it was Adams who requested the meeting, the New York Times reported, adding that the city was funding the trip as it had a “city purpose”.
Last September, Adams was hit with a five-count criminal indictment following a lengthy investigation by federal prosecutors into his financial dealings with foreign sources, including Turkish government officials.
According to federal prosecutors, Adams “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him”.
Adams has remained defiant, calling himself a “target” of “lies” in noticeably similar tone to Trump’s attacks on the justice department, which he has accused of being weaponized against him.
In the months following Trump’s victory, Adams has appeared to drift to the right, particularly on the issue of immigration, which is central to Trump’s political identity.
Marking a notable departure from New York’s status as a “sanctuary city” for immigrants, Adams said he planned to work alongside Trump over the president-elect’s pledges to deport millions of immigrants upon returning to the White House.
“Well, cancel me because I’m going to protect the people of the city,” the mayor said, adding that he wanted it to be “clear that I’m not going to be warring with this administration”.
