NEW YORK — Mayor Adams spoke to President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday about working together to address “issues in the city,” Adams said, without going into specifics or disclosing whether they discussed the prospect of mass deportations or Adams’ pending criminal case.
“I communicated with the president yesterday to state that there are many issues here in the city that we want to work together with the administration to address,” the mayor said at an unrelated press conference Thursday, naming infrastructure as one of the topics.
Adams also said he’s confident he’ll be able to find “common ground” with Trump on public safety. During his campaign for the White House, Trump highlighted crime in cities such as New York in criticizing Democrats’ approach to safety.
“I look forward to coordinating with any and everyone to keep this great city safe,” Adams said.
The mayor declined to say if the pair spoke about the incoming president’s threat of mass deportations or if he had personally congratulated Trump on his victory. He did not answer a question about whether Trump’s future U.S. attorney general might help him with his federal corruption case.
“I’m not going to go into private conversations,” Adams said.
The mayor also said he has yet to “make a final determination” about removing fluoride, a mineral that helps strengthen teeth and reduces cavities, from the water supply.
Former candidate Robert F. Kennedy, who is on Trump’s transition team, recently said he would advise systems across the country to get rid of the mineral.
In the lead-up to the election, the mayor sidestepped questions on supportive words Trump directed towards him and drew anger from Democrats for saying it was inappropriate to call the former president a fascist. Trump has twice expressed sympathies for the mayor. Last month, Trump told Adams at the Al Smith dinner that they both had been targeted by Biden’s Justice Department.
“We were persecuted, Eric,” Trump said at the event. “I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.”
The mayor is set to go on trial in April on charges he carried out political favors in exchange for illegal straw donations and travel perks. The mayor has pleaded not guilty to the allegations. Federal prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, who brought the case, have said they may bring a superseding indictment against Adams.
Adams previously said he planned to communicate with Trump’s administration about “the impact of migrants and asylum seekers” at a Wednesday press conference on the impact of the presidential election.
He then pledged to work with the incoming Trump administration on immigration issues and hoped to develop “a realistic and compassionate” strategy on the federal level.
Manuel Castro, Adams’ immigrant affairs commissioner, said Wednesday the mayor’s team will talk to the Trump administration to “hopefully change their minds” about initiatives like mass deportations.