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President Trump said Friday that he and Eric Adams discussed “almost nothing” during their White House meeting Friday, suggesting that the embattled New York City mayor requested a meeting to “thank” him.
“He came in to say, ‘Hello,’” Trump told reporters of the meeting. “It was very nice.
“And I think he came in to thank me, frankly,” the president continued, without addressing what Adams was thanking him for.
Todd Shapiro, a campaign spokesperson for Adams, said in a statement passed along by Adams’s office that he had thanked Trump for his “words of support” from the campaign trail while the mayor was being “unfairly and selectively targeted” by federal authorities.
Adams said in his own statement that the meeting was “productive and laid a strong foundation” for continued discussions about New York City’s priorities.
In a video posted to X after the meeting, the mayor said they discussed how to “move the city forward,” particularly in manufacturing, and establish “a real communication” between New York City and the White House.
“New York City is important to America, and what happens here in Washington, D.C. is important to New York,” Adams said in the video. “It’s my obligation to deliver for the people of New York, and as a city that’s the largest city in America, we must have a dialogue with the White House.
The White House confirmed earlier Friday that Trump would meet with Adams just hours before the Justice Department (DOJ) was slated to release documents tied to the embattled New York City mayor’s now-defunct corruption case. Hundreds of pages were made public shortly before Trump’s remarks.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing that Adams requested an audience with Trump, and the president agreed to meet. She did not offer any details on what the two planned to discuss.
Adams posted a video to social media earlier Friday saying he was traveling to Washington to meet with Trump to discuss “how to deliver for New Yorkers.” In another video posted shortly before the meeting, Adams said the discussion would be “always New York centered.”
It seemed to be the first meeting between the president and Adams since the mayor traveled to Florida to meet with Trump before the inauguration.
The timing of the meeting aligned with a deadline for the DOJ to publicly disclose documents including search warrants and affidavits tied to the investigation in Adams’s criminal case, which the government dropped earlier this year.
The filings are expected to provide additional clarity on the probe about Adams and the evidence that bolstered the five-count indictment against him, which was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Dale Ho after high-ranking DOJ officials said it was preventing Adams from effectuating Trump’s immigration agenda.
Those efforts to drop the case created turmoil in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, where several federal prosecutors including the acting U.S. attorney overseeing the case resigned rather than submit the request.
The documents were initially due last week, but the deadline was extended to early Friday evening.
Adams was accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from wealthy foreign business people and at least one Turkish government official, starting as early as 2014 and lasting through his 2021 mayoral campaign and tenure as mayor. He pleaded not guilty.
This story was updated at 8:39 p.m.