Opinion: Donald Trump just dynamited Eric Adams’ mayoralty

By orchestrating a process to drop the indictment charges against Mayor Eric Adams – and prevent a superseding indictment including damning charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice for destroying evidence and encouraging witnesses to lie to the FBI – President Donald Trump may seem to have given the mayor a political lifeline. Some have suggested that with his legal troubles behind him, Adams is now free to focus on his reelection campaign.

But the truth is far different. Adams has spent months crafting a legal strategy to avoid jail time – not a viable political strategy to win the Democratic mayoral primary in June. And while Adams has succeeded in the former, his political future is irreversibly damaged. In no uncertain terms, Eric Adams is cooked.

By aligning himself with Trump, a pariah to almost all New York City Democrats, a trap door beneath Adams has opened that will prevent Adams from winning reelection. The idea that he can pivot to run and win as a Republican in the current political environment is a laughable proposition.

Once a rising star in the national Democratic Party, Adams is now firmly positioned as Trump’s marionette, having effectively handed the keys of NYC government over to the White House.  Adams is now gagging city government officials from criticizing the Trump administration and has agreed to an apparent quid pro quo on ICE immigration enforcement policies. Quite obviously, Adams is nailing shut his own coffin with an industrial-sized sledgehammer.

In a notable development, civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton recently highlighted how Trump is holding both Adams and New York City hostage, which he views as totally unacceptable. Sharpton will reportedly be huddling with Reps. Hakeem Jeffries Gregory Meeks to discuss all options, including the possibility of lobbying Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove Adams from office. Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado has publicly called for Adams to step down, and State Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris has called for Adams to be removed from office if he doesn’t resign.

Simply put, Eric Adams is about to be run out of town.

To the clear, the end of Adam’s tenure – beyond his legal troubles – has been hiding in plain sight. Our recent polling paints a terribly grim picture for Adams. Shockingly, the mayor is tied for third place in the Democratic primary race with largely unknown socialist Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, with each getting 9% of the vote. Worse yet for Adams, our ranked-choice voting simulation has former Gov. Andrew Cuomo handily winning the race in the sixth round with 58% of the vote if he decides to enter the race. In our ranked-choice voting simulation, Adams doesn’t even make it to the final round, as he is eliminated in the fifth round.

This ballot outcome is a damning indictment (no pun intended) of how Adams and his administration have squandered the trust of New Yorkers.

Before the Trump-related developments, Adams was already facing a terribly steep uphill battle in his reelection bid. Only 3% of voters expressed support for his reelection, including a dismal 6% of Black voters. Furthermore, when asked who was best equipped to take on the Trump administration, a meager 1% of Democratic primary voters chose Adams. By comparison, 41% thought Cuomo was better suited for the task, 7% selected city Comptroller Brad Lander and 7% selected Mamdani.

These numbers reveal just how bleak Adams’ political situation was even before the news of Trump’s heavy anchor was hung around the mayor’s neck.

With numbers this bad, and Trump as his de facto dance partner, Adams’ political career – at least in New York City – is effectively over. Veteran political strategist Hank Sheinkopf put it bluntly: “Adams now looks like a partner in Trump’s policies in a city where Trump’s negative ratings are at 80%.” Sheinkopf added, “Staying out of jail is good. Appearing to be a partner in Trump’s immigration policy? Very, very, very bad.”

Adams will go down in history not as the cop who cleaned up Gotham, but as the mayor who became a willing accomplice to Trump’s agenda of taking a wrecking ball to the federal government.

While he is still mayor today, make no mistake about it, in no uncertain terms: Eric Adams is politically toast.