New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared on Friday that he would continue to seek re-election, following days of reports that President Donald Trump planned to offer him a federal job in exchange for dropping out of the mayoral race.
Trump has vowed to do what he can to stop the Democratic nominee and frontrunner, 33-year-old liberal state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani, from becoming the next mayor of his native city. Earlier this week, Trump said he would like to see two of the three other main candidates - Adams, former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa - step aside to avoid splitting the anti-Mamdani vote.
"I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one-on-one, and I think that's a race that could be won," Trump told reporters on Thursday.
Adams said press reports of him being in Washington for meetings about his future were wrong, but he did not directly address whether he had been in talks with Trump's team.
"I am running and I am going to beat Mamdani," Adams told reporters gathered at the mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion.
"The voters will determine who's the next mayor of this city, and I will respect the outcome from the voters," Adams said, declining to take questions from reporters.
Trump says hard to defeat Mamdani after Adams continues New York mayoral bid
Trump said on Friday that New York Mayor Eric Adams continuing his bid for reelection diminishes the chance of anyone defeating Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, but added that Adams is "free to do what he wants."
"It would seem to me that if he (Adams) stays in, if you have more than one candidate running against him (Mamdani), it can't be won," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, shortly after Adams said he was not ending his campaign for reelection.
"I would say that (Andrew) Cuomo might have a chance of winning if it was a one-on-one. If it's not one on one, it's going to be a hard race," Trump added.