Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

For months, Mayor Eric Adams’s reelection campaign has been plagued by problems, including anemic polling and Adams’s continued failure to obtain public matching funds from the city. With two months left to go, new reporting and an unexplained trip to Florida are prompting speculation that the mayor might be considering calling it quits on a race he has little chance of winning.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that top advisers to President Trump have discussed the idea of giving Adams a role in the administration, with the intention of getting the incumbent mayor out of the race and making it into a one-on-one matchup between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo. Sources told the Times that administration officials have spoken to associates close to Adams and that the conversations are happening “in several different directions.”

The New York Post ran a similar story on Wednesday, reporting that the talks with Adams’s camp have reached high-level officials in the Trump administration, but that it’s not clear if the president himself has weighed in. “I think Adams would be able to craft a position and a portfolio that’s to his liking,” a source close to the White House told the Post.

Politico then followed up with its own reporting, saying that Adams has been offered a high-ranking job in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, per a source familiar. The numerous reports emerged soon after Adams returned from a previously unannounced trip to Florida on Tuesday, which his team described as “personal.”

Both the Times and the Post also reported that conversations have also taken place about a potential job offer to Guardian Angels founder and Republican Party nominee Curtis Sliwa. Sliwa has previously said he has no intention of dropping out and is only interested in running for mayor. He echoed those words in a statement to the Times, saying that he is “committed to carrying this fight through to Election Day.”

Cuomo, the former governor, has consistently held second place in the polls, ahead of Sliwa and Adams. A fourth candidate, attorney Jim Walden, officially dropped his independent bid on Tuesday and called on others to join him in order to consolidate the field behind the strongest possible candidate to defeat Mamdani. The candidates have long signaled that a three-way fight for moderate and conservative voters risks splitting the vote to Mamdani’s benefit, but neither Cuomo, Adams, nor Sliwa have shown a willingness to drop their bids.

Mamdani responded to the new reporting on social media, saying that the alleged talks were evidence that the president has a preference in the mayoral race. “Today’s news confirms it: Cuomo is Trump’s choice for Mayor,” his campaign posted. “The White House is considering jobs for Adams and Sliwa to clear the field. New Yorkers are sick of corrupt politics and backroom deals. No matter who’s running, we will deliver a better future on November 4.”

For Cuomo’s part, he has said he would turn down any potential endorsement from Trump and has denied past reports from the Times that he discussed the race with the president. Trump has also denied speaking to the former governor and has yet to voice any public support for any candidate while continuously denouncing Mamdani and threatening legal action against the city if he becomes mayor.

Adams addressed the rumors at an unrelated press conference Wednesday, saying that a previously unannounced trip to Florida this week was for personal reasons and that he did no governmental work or fundraising. “I have a job. I’m running for my reelection and I’m still doing that and I’m looking forward to getting reelected,” he said.

Campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro was more emphatic in a statement and also explicitly denied Adams being offered at position at HUD. “Mayor Adams has not met with Donald Trump — don’t believe the noise. He is not dropping out of the race. The Mayor is fully committed to winning this election, with millions of New Yorkers preparing to cast their votes,” he said.

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