Eric Adams to Attend Inauguration After Invite From Trump

Mayor Eric Adams of New York City will attend Donald J. Trump’s inauguration in Washington on Monday after a last-minute invite from the president-elect’s team, Mr. Adams’s spokesman said.

Mr. Adams, a Democrat, had planned to attend two events in New York City to honor Martin Luther King’s Birthday. The mayor’s office had sent out his daily schedule shortly after midnight detailing his plans.

Then shortly before 8:30 a.m. Monday, his office sent out a new schedule announcing that Mr. Adams would attend the inauguration at noon.

Fabien Levy, a spokesman for the mayor, posted on social media that the Trump administration had invited Mr. Adams to attend the inauguration “in the early hours of Monday morning” and that the mayor 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” New York, Mr. Levy said.

The question of whether Mr. Adams would attend Mr. Trump’s inauguration had been a topic of speculation for weeks. When the mayor was repeatedly asked if he planned to attend, he said his staff was still figuring out his schedule.

The news comes days after Mr. Adams visited Mr. Trump in Florida on Friday. The men had lunch at the Trump International Golf Club.

Mr. Adams is facing federal corruption charges and is set to go on trial in April. Mr. Trump has said that he is considering offering Mr. Adams a pardon, arguing that both men were treated unfairly by prosecutors.

Mr. Adams has insisted that he is innocent and has pleaded not guilty. The mayor said that he did not discuss his legal case with Mr. Trump at their lunch.

Some Democrats back home are wary of the mayor’s kinship with Mr. Trump and say that it could hurt him politically when he runs for re-election in the Democratic primary in June.

Mr. Adams had been scheduled to attend an event honoring King at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where other Democrats are gathering on Monday, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and Adrienne Adams, the City Council speaker. He had then planned to visit the Convent Avenue Baptist Church in Harlem.