Eric Adams denies he will exit New York City mayoral race as Trump allies weigh field-clearing options

By Gloria Pazmino, CNN

(CNN) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams forcefully denied rumors that he will abandon his reelection campaign if the Trump administration offers him a job.

According to two sources familiar with the conversations, aides to President Donald Trump have floated the idea of offering Adams a job in the administration as part of an effort to clear the field ahead of the general election in November with the aim of blocking Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani from becoming the city’s next mayor.

Asked about the possibility during an unrelated press conference in the Bronx on Wednesday, Adams said he had no plans to exit the race.

“I have a job. I’m running for my reelection. I am still doing that, and I’m looking forward to getting reelected,” Adams told reporters.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.

The New York Times was first to report the discussions, which according to the Times also include an effort to find a job for the Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

A narrower field would be welcome news for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running in the race as an independent after losing to Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman and democratic socialist, by 12 points in the June Democratic primary.

A spokesperson for the Cuomo campaign declined to comment.

News that Trump is seeking to influence the mayoral race in New York City could also be helpful for the front-runner. During a hastily scheduled press conference in Manhattan, Mamdani accused Trump of trying to undermine his hometown’s democratic process, saying a job offer for Adams confirms the president is hoping to elevate Cuomo as the leading alternative.

“The reason that so many New Yorkers are fed up with politics as they know it is because of news like this,” Mamdani told reporters. “Backroom deals, corrupt agreements, all of which serve to increase the sense of disaffection and despair as it pertains to how people feel about politics across this country.”

Asked whether the possibility of facing a two-way contest in November concerned him, Mamdani said he was confident he would win in the general election.

“I don’t care about who we will face in November. We’ll beat them all,” Mamdani added.

John Catsimatidis, a Republican New York supermarket magnate who is a friend of Trump and has warned Mamdani’s candidacy would be dangerous to the city said he believes Trump “does not want a socialist to be mayor of New York.”

“New York is the capitalist capital of the world and should continue to be that,” Catsimatidis told CNN.

Cuomo, who has denied he spoke to Trump about the mayoral race in recent weeks or that he has enlisted his help in clearing the field has said he believes he would have a better chance at defeating Mamdani if it’s a two–way race rather than the current crowded field of candidates that also includes Sliwa, a New York City fixture who made his name in the late 1970’s as a citizen vigilante and founder of the Guardian Angels.

In a statement, Sliwa told CNN he has no plans to leave the race.

“The White House has not contacted me, and I’m not interested in a job with the White House,” Sliwa said. “My focus is right here in New York. I’m the only candidate on a major party line who can defeat Mamdani, and I’m committed to carrying this fight through to Election Day. The people of New York City deserve a mayor who truly cares.”

Speculation about Adams’ future has been swirling for months. This week, an undisclosed trip to Florida that Adams and his team initially described as being “personal” in nature quickly took a different tone after Adams said he met with the mayor of Miami during his visit along with “several political figures in Florida.”

CNN has reached out to the office of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams’ campaign denied that the mayor had spoken with the president about the mayoral race.

“Mayor Adams has not met with Donald Trump — don’t believe the noise. He is not dropping out of the race,” Shapiro said in a statement. “The Mayor is fully committed to winning this election, with millions of New Yorkers preparing to cast their votes. His record is clear: crime is down, jobs are up, and he has consistently stood up for working families. Mayor Adams is focused on building on that progress and earning four more years to continue delivering for the people of New York.”

Adams’ reelection campaign has been hobbled by ongoing corruption accusations facing some of his closest allies. Last month, a former top advisor to the mayor was indicted on charges of corruption and bribery.

Adams, who faced his own corruption and bribery scandal earlier this year and was charged by federal prosecutors in a wide-ranging scheme accusing him of soliciting donations from foreign nationals, was cleared from charges after Trump’s Department of Justice directed prosecutors in the US Attorneys’ office in New York to dismiss the case. He continues to deny any wrongdoing.

The episode has hung over Adams since, with both Cuomo and Mamdani saying it was part of a deal Adams made with the Trump administration that would guarantee the city’s cooperation with Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Adams, who routinely declines to publicly criticize Trump, has said he prefers to have a working relationship with the administration rather than an adversarial one.

Pressed about whether he would consider leaving office for another job, Adams boasted about his prospects, saying he’s been getting job offers for more than a year.

“I have been getting calls from private industries, from boards, from educational institutions I have been getting offers,” Adams said. “To say would you take a job in an administration, or would I take it somewhere else, that is hypothetical. I am running for office, I’m going to finish doing that I got work to do, I have more ribbons to cut before I finish up this term.”

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