Trump Says He Is Open To Pardoning Eric Adams

NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he was open to pardoning New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Adams is facing a federal criminal bribery case in New York involving the Turkish government, luxury travel perks and an expedited safety inspection of a midtown skyscraper. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and is set to go to trial in April, as he runs for re-election.

“I think he was treated pretty unfairly,” Trump said, speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago. “Now I haven’t seen the gravity of it all, but it seems like being upgraded in an airplane many years ago — I know probably everybody here has been upgraded.”

Trump — like the Democratic mayor himself — suggested without evidence Adams’ criminal case was the result of his criticisms of President Joe Biden's handling of the migrant crisis.

The Republican president-elect long said charges against him were similarly motivated by political retribution.

Since the spring of 2022, more than 225,000 migrants have arrived in New York City, a surge that strained the municipal social safety net. Adams earmarked $6.65 billion for related services.

“I said it not as a prediction, a little light-heartedly, but I said it. I said he’s going to be indicted,” Trump said, repeating accusations of a politicized Department of Justice that Biden echoed in pardoning his son, Hunter Biden. “And a few months later he got indicted. So, I would certainly look into (a pardon).”