Eric Adams to Meet With Trump at Mar-a-Lago Today

Mayor Eric Adams of New York City was set to meet with President-elect Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday afternoon in an unusual display of political, and perhaps personal, outreach.

The surprise trip to Florida by Mr. Adams, a Democrat who faces an uphill battle re-election this year, comes as the mayor faces a trial on federal corruption charges in April.

Mr. Trump, a Republican, said last month that he would consider pardoning Mr. Adams, arguing that both men had been “persecuted” by politically motivated prosecutors.

The mayor’s office said that the meeting was scheduled for 1 p.m. and that Mr. Adams would return to New York City later on Friday. The meeting was closed to journalists, and his office said that Mr. Adams would not have time for an interview after.

Fabien Levy, a spokesman for the mayor, said the goal of the trip, which was being paid for by the city, was to discuss the city’s priorities, noting that a “partnership with the federal government is critical to New York City’s success.”

But the candidates challenging Mr. Adams in the Democratic primary in June said his visit to Mar-a-Lago was clearly an attempt to curry favor with Mr. Trump in the hopes of a pardon.

Brad Lander, the city comptroller who is running for mayor, said on Friday that hearing the news “made my head explode.” He urged Mr. Adams to state publicly that he would not seek or accept a pardon and questioned why taxpayers were paying for the trip.

“It’s infuriating that the mayor is so transparently willing to trade the well-being of New Yorkers and the values of our city for a pardon for himself,” he said.

Many Democrats in New York are worried that Mr. Trump could order mass deportations of immigrants, overturn congestion pricing tolls in Manhattan and cut funding for climate change projects and other priorities.

Mr. Adams, a former police officer who was registered as a Republican in the 1990s, has taken a different tack, offering to work with Mr. Trump and praising his adviser Elon Musk, who shares a lawyer with Mr. Adams.

Mr. Adams joins a diverse roster of leaders from around the world who have made the trip to Mar-a-Lago since Mr. Trump’s election, and he is not the first Democrat. John Fetterman, the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, met with Mr. Trump last week. Other recent visitors have included Viktor Orban, the authoritarian prime minister of Hungary, and Justin Trudeau, the liberal prime minister of Canada, who is leaving office soon.

Mr. Adams said at his weekly news conference on Monday that Mr. Trump was a New Yorker and cared about the city.

“In my conversation with him, he’s been clear that he wants to help New York and New Yorkers,” Mr. Adams said.

Joseph Borelli, the Republican minority leader of the City Council, defended the trip and said that many voters wanted Mr. Adams to work with Mr. Trump on issues like immigration.

“The public has been clear — they are tired of migrant gangs causing havoc in our city and costing us billions of dollars,” he said. “I suspect the majority of New Yorkers want there to be cooperation between the mayor and president on this, and other issues that affect our city from transportation to housing.”

Mr. Adams was charged in September with five federal corruption charges related to bribery and fraud. He is accused of receiving thousands of dollars’ worth of travel benefits from Turkish officials and of soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.

Mr. Trump has a famously fraught relationship with New York City. Though he grew up in Queens and later was celebrated for real estate deals and tabloid sizzle, the city resoundingly rejected his first bid for the presidency. New Yorkers responded to his election in 2016 by stripping his name from several high-rise buildings. Mr. Trump, in turn, took every opportunity to disparage New York.

In 2019, he complained of his treatment at the hands of New York’s leaders and changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach, Fla.

At a charity event in September, Mr. Trump said he felt a kinship with Mr. Adams.

“We were persecuted, Eric,” Mr. Trump said at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner. “I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.”