NYC Mayor Adams’ commitment to not publicly criticize Trump unnerves fearful New Yorkers

Mayor Adams’ astonishment committedness to avoid publically criticizing President Trump is sending shockwaves done New York City, wherever galore residents are looking to section leaders to openly combat backmost against Trump’s arguable plans to extremity birthright citizenship, deport millions of immigrants, repeal national protections for transgender youth, pardon hundreds of convicted Jan. 6 rioters and more.

Power Malu, a section migrant advocator who helps supply services for caller arrivals, said Wednesday helium and his squad person been staking retired metropolis exigency shelters connected the lookout for feds engaged successful deportations. His squad hasn’t travel crossed immoderate raids yet, but Malu said migrants helium has spoken with are terrified and unsure of whether to enactment successful metropolis shelters amid Trump’s instrumentality to power.

“The metropolis does not consciousness safe, does not consciousness protected, and if you can’t knock the president for things that he’s promising to bash that straight interaction your constituents, past you are not successful a presumption to lead,” Malu said of the mayor. “It’s wide arsenic time the connection Adams is sending: He’s acrophobic he’s going to hitch this feline the incorrect way.”

The public deference Adams has said helium volition amusement Trump arsenic helium begins his 2nd word stands successful crisp opposition to the mayor’s erstwhile rhetoric. Just a fewer years ago, Adams described Trump arsenic a “white supremacist.”

“Donald Trump volition ne'er condemn achromatic supremacists, due to the fact that helium is simply a achromatic supremacist,” then-mayoral campaigner Adams tweeted successful October 2020, a period earlier Trump lost that year’s statesmanlike election to Joe Biden.

Fast guardant to this Tuesday, erstwhile Adams announced helium has committed to not openly knock Trump present that he’s backmost successful the White House. Adams volition alternatively privately sermon immoderate disagreements straight with Trump, who has offered him an “opportunity” to bash so, the politician said.

Mayor Adams astatine the inauguration of President Trump astatine the U.S. Capitol connected Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)

Even immoderate of Adams’ longtime supporters expressed daze astir that stance, questioning however helium tin follow it aft campaigning arsenic an anti-Trump champion successful 2021.

“It’s precise painful, highly disappointing and besides unprincipled,” said Norman Siegel, a seasoned civilian rights lawyer who has been adjacent with Adams for decades and was a salient protagonist of his 2021 campaign.

“People supportive of Eric called maine yesterday, this morning, and adjacent previously, but yesterday successful particular, saying, ‘that’s not the Eric we knew,'” continued Siegel, who declined to accidental whether he’ll endorse Adams for reelection this year. “At a clip similar this, you privation the politician to beryllium retired determination and beryllium outspoken, due to the fact that Trump volition person an interaction connected tons of radical successful New York City, not conscionable immigrants, but tons of people. Everyone’s rights are successful jeopardy close now, and truthful wherefore is the politician being silent?”

Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan, who besides endorsed Adams’ 2021 run and chairs the Council’s Finance Committee, agreed with Siegel.

“New Yorkers request a guardian astatine the gate, not roseate petals and reddish carpets,” Brannan said of Adams.

More broadly, Adams’ attack to Trump has sparked pointed pushback from galore Democrats, who accidental helium has been overly cozy with the Republican and question whether he’s angling for a pardon from the president for his national corruption charges. Following a backstage gathering with Trump successful Florida past Friday, Adams headed to Washington, D.C. aboriginal Monday to be his inauguration aft getting a last-minute invitation that required him to cancel respective appearances astatine Martin Luther King Jr. Day events successful New York.

Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak didn’t accidental Wednesday whether mayoral staffers are expected to present not knock Trump successful public, either.

Like Adams, respective of his apical aides — including First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy, Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs Tiffany Raspberry and Deputy Chief of Staff Menashe Shapiro — have  spoken and written critically of Trump and his team, according to a News reappraisal of societal media posts and different records.

For instance, Torres-Springer, Adams’ second-in-command astatine City Hall, penned an op-ed successful The Nation successful 2017 with then-Councilman Brad Lander — who’s present moving against Adams successful June’s Democratic mayoral superior — successful which they argued Trump’s docket is afloat of “flaws” that permission his supporters “sorely disappointed,” including by “eliminating wellness attraction sum for millions of Americans.”

Asked astir the aides’ erstwhile comments astir Trump, Mamalek reiterated Adams “wants to enactment with him, not warfare with him, and volition truthful sermon his thoughts connected argumentation privately.”

The White House didn’t respond to questions.

Migrants are pictured sitting successful Tompkins Square Park crossed from a migrant re-ticketing halfway astatine St. Brigid School connected E. 7th St. successful Manhattan successful January. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)

Many of Trump’s most arguable Day One moves subordinate to immigration, including an bid terminating the quality to assertion asylum successful the U.S. and a vow to commencement deporting immigrants careless of whether they person committed immoderate crimes too residing successful the state without due documentation. On Tuesday, Trump’s medication besides rescinded a argumentation barring the feds from carrying retired deportation raids successful “sensitive locations,” including schools and churches.

New York City’s location to much than 500,000 undocumented immigrants, a large conception of the section workforce, successful summation to the tens of thousands of mostly Latin American nationals who person arrived since outpouring 2022 successful hopes of claiming asylum.

As a mayoral candidate, Adams tweeted that Trump’s “abusive” migration enforcement tactics had wounded New Yorkers and that the Republican “left New York for dead” during the pandemic. This week, though, Adams said Trump “loves the city” and that they person “good synergy,” including connected migration policy.

Migrants locomotion into Mexico aft being deported from the U.S. astatine El Chaparral. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Another country of interest for New Yorkers is Trump’s enforcement bid affirming the U.S. won’t admit the beingness of transgender individuals — a determination helium has paired with threats to withhold national backing from states and municipalities that don’t autumn successful enactment successful areas similar assemblage sports.

Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City President Gabriel Lewenstein, whose LGBTQ rights radical endorsed Adams successful the 2021 wide mayoral election, slammed the politician for not publically defending New York’s transgender younker successful the look of Trump’s attacks.

“It’s beauteous pathetic. Instead of lasting up for New Yorkers, he’s groveling astatine the feet of fascists,” Lewenstein said. “It feels similar a beauteous embarrassing past ditch effort to prevention himself.”

Their narration is processing arsenic Trump has said he’s actively considering pardoning Adams, who was indicted successful September connected criminal charges alleging helium took bribes and amerciable run currency from Turkish authorities operatives successful speech for governmental favors. Adams, who hasn’t ruled retired accepting a pardon, pleaded not blameworthy and is expected to basal proceedings successful April.