Former President Donald Trump spoke on Eric Adams’ historic indictment Thursday, telling reporters that he predicted the New York City mayor would end up facing federal charges.
During a wide-ranging press conference at Trump Tower, the ex-commander in chief admitted he doesn’t know Adams well — but touched on Hizzoner trying to combat the Big Apple’s migrant crisis and suggested Adams’ outspokenness about the issue was a factor.
“I watched about a year ago when he talked about how the illegal migrants are hurting our city, and the federal government should pay us, and we shouldn’t have to take them,” Trump told reporters.
“And I said, ‘You know what? He’ll be indicted within a year.’”
“And I was exactly right, because that’s what we have,” he added.
“We have people that use the Justice Department and the FBI at levels that have never been seen before.”
Adams, who is facing mounting calls to resign, has also claimed he was being targeted for criticizing the Harris-Biden administration over its handling of the migrant crisis that is expected to cost the city upwards of $12 billion by 2026.
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became,” Adams said in a pre-recorded video statement on Wednesday.
“Despite our pleas, the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system,” he added.
“With no relief, I put the people of New York before party and politics.”
Eric Adams indicted: Live updates after NYC mayor hit with indictment
The embattled mayor has spent the latter end of his first term slamming the White House over its lack of response to the migrant crisis.
“Help is not on the way,” Adams told reporters after meeting with President Biden to discuss the crisis back in December 2023.
“The national government has turned its back on New York City,” he said months later, adding that “every service in this city is going to be impacted by the asylum seeker crisis.”
The White House has denied that Adams’ criticism of the Harris-Biden administration played any role in the indictment.
“Look, we have been always very clear, the president was clear, even when he was running in 2020, that he was going to make sure that DOJ is independent,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
Stay updated with the New York Post’s coverage of Mayor Eric Adams’ indictment
“And the DOJ is handling this case independently. I’m not going to go beyond that.”
Adams, the first sitting New York City mayor to be hit with a federal indictment, is charged with one count of conspiracy to receive campaign contributions from foreign nationals and commit wire fraud and bribery, one count of wire fraud, two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and one count of soliciting and accepting a bribe .
He could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted on all of the charges.
Trump, himself, has dealt with a slew of criminal charges — including his landmark “hush money” conviction in New York earlier this year.
The former president has also been hit with federal indictments in Florida and Washington, DC., over his handling of classified White House documents after his presidency and his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, respectively.
The charges out of Florida were dismissed in July.
Trump is also facing state charges in Georgia related to the 2020 election.
“I wish him well,” Trump said of Adams.
“These are dirty players. These are bad people. They cheat and they do anything necessary.”
