Transcript: Mayor Adams Appears on Fox News' "My View with Lara Trump"

April 19, 2025

Lara Trump: Good evening, hope you’re having a great Saturday night and welcome back to My View. The moment President Donald Trump was elected to the White House for the second time, radical Democrats immediately vowed resistance. At every turn, Democrats on Capitol Hill and governors and liberal strongholds linked arms to impede the president’s agenda. But instead of towing the party line, New York City Mayor Eric Adams put public safety over politics.  

Yes, we know The Big Apple is not known for common sense policies, but as a former police officer, Eric Adams knows right from wrong. He found room to disagree without the derangement. He found common ground in order to collaborate with this administration. Because whether Democrats like it or not, the American people elected Donald Trump, winning not only the Electoral College, but the popular vote as well, while sweeping all seven swing states.  

So working together is the way to actually move this country forward, not ranting, raving and protesting. This month, Mayor Adams met with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to discuss streamlining and securing New York's Wild West, the subway system. And Adams made headlines for daring to meet with Border Czar Tom Homan, agreeing that criminals who come into our country illegally to commit further crimes should not be allowed to stay.  

And while he's still at odds with the White House over federal funding for migrant services, he's also holding onto a $7 billion IOU from the Biden administration, who allowed migrants to overrun the city and drain its resources. 

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Putting people over party, imagine that. As expected, this is already plenty of fodder to fuel scolding from fellow Democrats. But it all come to a head after the mayor faced his own version of lawfare.  

Last year, Eric Adams faced federal corruption charges related to illegal gifts and campaign contributions. But President Trump's DOJ dismissed the charges earlier this month due to lack of evidence. And unsurprisingly, Democrats pounced. They cried quid pro quo. They accused the mayor of cozying up to Trump to stay out of legal trouble. They demanded he resign.  

So despite his prior claims, to the contrary, this month, Mayor Adams announced his re-election bid, not as a Democrat, but as an Independent, pointing to the legal battles as a detrimental distraction from what would have been time spent on his primary campaign. 

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While it may have come as a shock to some, is this decision really all that surprising? Think about all the New York Democrats we know: Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, not to mention the radical liberals running to unseat Mayor Adams, like the unwelcome return of Andrew Cuomo.  

Eric Adams appears to again be putting people over party. And this week, I got to ask the mayor about his decision and his next move.  

Mayor Eric Adams, we are so excited to have you sit down, for My View. 

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you.  

Trump: Thank you for being here. I think the big question people have is you've been a Democrat. You ran as a Democrat, obviously, for your first term as mayor. You recently announced you were nning now as an Independent. So tell me what went into that decision.  

Mayor Adams: A combination of things. But the way this terrible case, I like to say bogus case, was put in place, it really collided and crashed up against the primary petition presentation. And so we wanted a longer runway to really communicate with voters. This has overshadowed the success of turning around our city. And this gives me the time to communicate one-on-one with voters. And it was, you know, it was a tough decision. We have to make the right strategic decisions. 

Trump: So running as an Independent, are there things that you would do differently in the future as mayor? What does an independent leadership here in New York City look like? 

Mayor Adams: When you look at this city, you hear from a lot of coverage. You would think outside the city, as I hear from other mayors, that the city is out of control. That's not the reality. You saw five straight quarters of decrease in crime this quarter. We saw the lowest number of shooters in the history, of recorded history of this city. Second lowest number of homicides. We have 4.6 million people in our subway system, an average of 5.5 felonies a day on our subway system out of 4.6 million.  

More jobs in the city's history, more small businesses operating [and] housing. You're seeing a city that made an amazing recovery in spite of 240-something thousand migrants and asylum seekers that came into the city that we had to spend $7.5 billion on to follow the federal laws and the city laws. And so I need to continue doing what I have done. And that is what I'm focused on doing. 

Trump: So, you know, the migrant situation here, as you just brought up, has certainly left an impact in New York. You just talked about the fact that it cost $7.5 billion for the people here in New York City. Tell me about dealing with that challenge.  

Mayor Adams: Great question. And it's always been of our belief, you know, a lot of people don't realize there is no law of sanctuary city. That's not a law. It is a concept. And here's what it means to me. I don't control the borders. And because [we] saw more secure borders, we're now seeing a decrease in flow in our cities and other cities. I don't control the borders.  

But when someone is in the city, we need to make sure it is safer when we make sure that it's in a very organized fashion. I need children in school. If they're not in school, they're in harm's way. I need people who feel as though they're the victim of the crime to feel comfortable calling the police. I need people who are dealing with medical emergencies that they go to the hospitals. A lot of these dangerous gangs were not only preying on innocent New Yorkers, they were preying on other undocumented people. And so there must be a system in the city unless you have disorderly chaos. 

Trump: Well, I like that you acknowledge that there has been a decrease in the situation here due to the current administration. But as the mayor, did it make your job more challenging that we have the sanctuary city status here in New York? 

Mayor Adams: You know, and what's interesting, Lara, is that people are attempting to state “Okay, Eric, you changed your policies and your thoughts.” I'm the same. If you would have heard what I was saying pre-election, it's the same that I'm saying post-election. The difference is no one was listening.  

I stated pre-election, we need to secure our borders. Pre-election, we should not be allowing dangerous, violent gang members into our city. And it made my job extremely difficult when I traveled to Washington under the previous administration and talked about this [as] a problem that no city should experience.  

I went to El Paso and said this should not be happening in El Paso, Brownsville, both Republican cities and Democratic cities, because it wasn't partisanship, it was common sense. And we failed to acknowledge that. And that $7.5 billion that I spent, $200 million could have gone to our children who are chronically absent.  

It could have went to my seniors. It could have went to building more housing. That should not have been our problem. And it was, and it was extremely difficult to deal with it, but we did. And it's going to have a long-term impact on our city.  

Trump: Do you think sanctuary cities overall are good for America? 

Mayor Adams: I think that when people, and that's why I want to be very clear when I was talking about there's no law. I think what's good for America is that in our cities, if someone is in your city, the federal government should address who comes in your city.  

But if they're in your city, you have to provide the proper care. If we're going to allow people into the country, we need to make sure that they're going after the services. What we must do is what is happening, I believe, under this administration, we're securing our borders so cities don't have to deal with a federal problem that we're seeing in many of our major cities. 

Trump: Your administration right now is being sued by the New York City City Council for allowing an ICE center at Rikers Island, for allowing ICE agents to be at Rikers Island.  

Tell me about what the goal was with allowing ICE there at Rikers, what your hope was from that. And why do you think the City Council is so upset about this? 

Mayor Adams: One of the big mistakes that's being made in some parts of the far left philosophy is that ICE is a criminal organization. They are not. They are part of our law enforcement community. FBI, HSI, Postal Service investigators, they're part of our law enforcement community.  

We have to get bad, dangerous people off our street. I continue that today [with] collaborating with our city, state, and federal agencies to go after dangerous people. So people who want to turn this into a political agenda, I'm focused on New Yorkers.  

80 percent of New Yorkers are stating that those who commit dangerous acts that are undocumented, after they are convicted and served their time, they should be deported. I'm in alignment with working-class people in this city and in this country. That is what I believe in. 

Trump: So you think the City Council is upset because somehow they think that you are collaborating with the Trump administration, and I would say you are because you want the best for the city, right? Who's upset about that? 

Mayor Adams: Even more than that, what people don't realize, we send billions of dollars in tax dollars to Washington, D.C., and the mindset that we're not going to collaborate with this [president's] administration is foolish to even think. I've never made it a secret [that] I'm going to collaborate with this administration, just as I collaborated with the previous administration, ten trips to Washington, D.C. to deal with this issue.  

And I've never made it unclear that I'm not going to collaborate with law enforcement agencies. Now, the city doesn't allow, the city laws say you can't collaborate on civil deportation. I must respect the law, but areas where we can [go] after dangerous gang members that are incarcerated and the danger that they are producing on Rikers Island can also spill into our community. I'm not apologizing for that, and I'm not going to ever relinquish my authority to keep New Yorkers safe. 

Trump: Still much more to get to with New York City Mayor Eric Adams as he lays out the dangers of the radical far left. 

[Commercial Break.] 

Trump: You’re willing to work with the Trump administration officials, with Sean Duffy, with Tom Homan, and you caught a lot of flack for that from a lot of your former party, the Democrat Party. Why do you think that is? 

Mayor Adams: I don't think it's about a partisan. I think it's just common sense. You know, what does everyday New Yorkers want? And, you know, I use the terminology all the time. People say, well, you know, you left the Democratic Party. You know, the party left me. I want to talk about what working class people believe, what they're feeling, and they're afraid.  

And we can't continue to be so philosophical and intellectual that we're talking over the heads of people who are afraid. Am I going to be able to provide for my children? Can I keep my home? Can I be employed? That's what we need to be looking at. And so I'll take the heat. You know, you have a different view of the city when you put on a bulletproof vest for twenty two years and you protected the children and families of the city. 

I see the byproduct of failed legislation and those who are wanting to go into their own corners. And most importantly, it's about respecting the office. People lose sight of that. You know, you don't all of a sudden become anti-American because the person you wanted to be president is not president. It's the office.  

When you don't respect the office, you're sending the wrong message. I respect the office. There's a president called President Trump. I'm going to work with that president to produce for the people of our city, because I respect the office. That's an office. And that's the flag that Uncle Joe died in Vietnam for at 19 years old.  

So I'm not for those who are desecrating our flag, who are on our college campuses, radicalizing our children, who are being harmful to what this country stands for. I don't care what they say. This is the greatest country on the globe. And in God, we trust.  

Trump: Amen to that. I'll say, you know, it's amazing to hear you say that the Democratic Party left you. I think a lot of people feel that way. A lot of lifelong Democrats are taking a look at the party now and they're a little lost. And maybe you found yourself there to a certain extent as someone who's been a Democrat for your whole life. What do you see for the future of the party? 

Mayor Adams: And there are those I believe, you know, you never want to do a broad brush for everyone. There are those that I've aligned with that reached out to me, [stating] “Eric you’re running on an Independent line. I think you need to continue to lift up what's important for working people in this city.” 

And there are those in the party that understand that we have gone too far on many of these important issues. And there are those who are really starting to add their voices. I believe you're going to find many people who are quiet are going to now add their voice and find their voice on things that are important for the people of the city and the people of this country.  

You know, Lara. People are hurting and I see that pain every day in that uncertainty about the future in the greatest country on the globe is a real concern. And [people] are looking for that authentic, real compassion and caring about their concerns. 

Trump: Well, maybe a lot of people in this city will say, maybe I want to vote for an Independent here in New York City. I lived in New York for seventeen years. This is the greatest city on Earth. And I really believe it. Do you have a message for New Yorkers right now? Will we see this city come back to all its glory? Because we know when it's great, it is so great. 

Mayor Adams: Without a doubt. And you're right. And you know what? We want you back. 

Trump: You know, let's see. Let's see what happens. 

Mayor Adams: You got that New York energy and New York swagger, you know, but that's so important. And I think New Yorkers must also believe again. I saw this when I was a lieutenant during September 11, watching our center of trade. We got up on September 12th and when I look at the numbers, the numbers don't lie, it's clear what we have done around public safety, more businesses in the city, in the city's history, more small businesses are operating, what we've done around housing is just unprecedented.  

We broke record after record after record of what we continue to do with City Of Yes. You can't even get restaurant reservations because of how well we're doing in this city. We have to move the city in the right direction. 4.6 million subway riders, five felonies a day on the subway system.  

I want to get rid of all those fives, but I want to say kudos to the men and women that wore the uniform that brought down crime in our city and brought down crime above ground as well as below ground. Prerequisite to our prosperity is public safety. You want your children to be safe. You want to be able to move through the city in a safe way. Far too many legislators are making decisions that [impact] the quality of life and the safety of our city. And the safety of everyday New Yorkers in the city. And I'm going to fight against them all the time to stand up for New Yorkers. 

Trump: Well, Mayor Eric Adams, good luck on your run. Thank you for joining us and thanks for spending a little time with us. We appreciate it. Good to have you.  

Mayor Adams: Thank you.  

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