Eric Adams may be suing Trump but he’s actually still mad at Biden

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said he will fight the federal government’s latest attempt to claw back migrant funding from the city. But on Tuesday, holding his first “off topic” press conference since the dismissal of his federal corruption charges, his harshest criticism was again reserved for former President Joe Biden – not President Donald Trump whose administration is actively seeking to take the grants back.

“Let’s be clear on our math, they are trying to claw back $200 million and we are fighting for  that,” Adams told reporters Tuesday, referring to the Trump administration’s recent cancellation and clawback of roughly $188 million in funding granted to the city under the Biden administration to support migrant shelters and services. “But then let’s look at $7 billion,” he continued. “Seven billion we lost in the previous administration.”

The latter is a sum Adams has regularly lambasted the Biden administration for over the past three years as more than 234,000 migrants have come under the city’s care. His frustrations over the crisis – particularly that $7 billion plus figure spent by the city to shelter and educate newcomers – have primarily been directed at the Biden administration for its lack of financial support and a comprehensive border strategy. 

The mayor has been far more careful about criticizing Trump – even hours after the city announced that the Trump administration was revoking what little funding aid was allocated to the city under the Biden administration. (Congress approved roughly $237 million in grants to help offset the city’s costs). Between the roughly $107 million claw back in federal grants announced this morning and the roughly $80 million seized directly from the city’s bank account in February, the Trump administration has attempted to recover nearly $188 million. The city is currently engaged in litigation to recoup the funds.

While Adams vowed Tuesday that the city will continue fighting for the rescinded funding, he praised the Trump administration for doing what its predecessor would not – both in terms of securing the border and going after “dangerous gang members” among migrants. Continuing to refuse to speak poorly about Trump, Adams repeatedly sidestepped all opportunities to criticize the president directly.

“If you’re angry over $200 million, why won’t you be infuriated over $7 billion?” Adams said, downplaying the clawbacks. “Not only that, my ask of the Biden administration was, secure the borders. If you secure the borders, we can stop the flow from our city. This administration is securing the borders … Hats off to the Homeland Security secretary and to Tom Homan over at ICE and others that want to collaborate with us on dealing with criminal behavior.”

Adams’ warm relationship with Trump has been heavily scrutinized over the past couple of months as Trump’s Department of Justice pushed to dismiss his federal case. While federal judge Dale Ho dismissed the charges late last week with prejudice – barring prosecutors from revisiting them in the future – he seemed to side with allegations that the mayor’s lawyer engaged in a quid pro quo with the Trump administration to cooperate with the president’s immigration agenda in exchange for the end of his legal troubles. Adams has denied any quid pro quo, claiming that his warm relationship with Trump is ultimately for the good of the city – not for any personal benefit. On Tuesday, he argued that that relationship has already repeated benefits for New Yorkers. 

“Someone that's finally listening to me saying that my city must be safe,” Adams said, when asked for examples.