The setting, not to mention the event itself, was unusual: Eric Adams, the Democratic mayor of New York City, had invited Fox News into City Hall on Wednesday for a sit-down interview.
And if anyone had a notion that he would be confrontational with the conservative network, Mr. Adams put it quickly to rest. He said Democrats had lost the presidential election because they had wasted time trying to demonize President-elect Donald J. Trump and that they had failed to address “the real needs of people.”
He characterized Mr. Trump’s chosen “border czar,” Thomas D. Homan, as his partner, said that the Biden administration’s border policy had created a “pipeline of criminality,” and offered that he would see if there was a way to get around current city laws to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into the Rikers Island jail complex.
Mr. Adams’s comments seemed so far to the right that the Fox News host who was interviewing him, Martha MacCallum, asked if he was considering rejoining the Republican Party.
The mayor is hardly the only New York Democratic official who has ratcheted down the rhetorical warfare with the incoming Trump administration.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has said her relationship with Mr. Trump “does not have to be adversarial” and has agreed with him on issues like border security. Attorney General Letitia James, a reliable foil of Mr. Trump who has won several cases against him in court, said she was prepared to work with “him or anybody regardless of party.”
Despite broad skepticism from left-leaning Democrats, some in New York say that vilifying Mr. Trump would only hurt the state and city. With Republicans in control of Congress and the presidency, New York might need Mr. Trump’s help and cannot afford to alienate him or an electorate that has swung more in his favor, even if they believe his policies remain a threat to the state and its residents.
The governor and Mr. Adams may also be motivated by political self-preservation. Both are considered moderate Democrats who face re-election battles — the mayor in 2025 and Ms. Hochul the following year — in an environment where Republicans gained ground in the 2024 election.
And it is possible that Mr. Adams is being driven by an even more pressing need: He was indicted on federal corruption charges in September and is expected to go on trial in April. Some of his political rivals say he seems predisposed to praising Mr. Trump as a way to gain favorable treatment if he is convicted. The mayor has denied that accusation.
The cautious approach differs from the stance adopted by New York leaders when Mr. Trump was elected eight years ago, or in places like California or Illinois this time around. Democratic governors in those states have been quick to denounce Mr. Trump, calling for special legislative sessions and forming groups committed to preserving democracy.
The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, has vowed to uphold the city’s sanctuary policies and been attacked by Mr. Homan, who threated to prosecute Mr. Johnson and told him to “get the hell out of the way.”
Mr. Adams, in contrast, said recently that he would explore using an executive order to change the city’s longstanding sanctuary policies, which prohibit the Police Department and other agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities — addressing one of Mr. Trump’s favorite gripes.
Speaking recently on a local podcast, the mayor also repeated a false claim that hundreds of thousands of migrant children had gone missing and may be the victims of child labor abuse or sex trafficking, adding that he wanted to “collaborate” with immigration authorities to find them.
Like Mr. Adams, Ms. Hochul has called for expelling undocumented immigrants convicted of serious crimes. Last week, she said she would reveal a “whole list” of crimes that could result in immigrants being deported and for which the state would cooperate with immigration authorities.
“Someone breaks the law, I’ll be the first one to call up ICE and say, ‘Get them out of here,’” Ms. Hochul said at a recent news conference.
In a letter sent recently to the Department of Homeland Security, Ms. Hochul asked the Biden administration for more resources at the Canadian border to make sure it “remains well-protected and secure.”
Ms. Hochul did not call for a special legislative session to pass legislation designed to protect New Yorkers from future actions by Mr. Trump, as some politicians in the state wanted her to and as has happened in some other Democratic-led states.
Lawmakers in California met recently for a special session called by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, and allocated $25 million for litigation against the federal government.
JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, has said that the Trump administration would have to “come through me” to enact policies he deemed harmful. Mr. Pritzker, who, like Mr. Newsom, is often mentioned as a future presidential candidate, formed a nonpartisan group called Governors Safeguarding Democracy to fight the threat of autocracy that he believes the incoming Trump administration poses.
In an interview, Ms. Hochul sought to strike a balance, saying both that she would “work with anyone who will help the state of New York” and that she would “stand up and protect New York values.”
Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Party, defended Ms. Hochul, contending that she had “set the right tone” when dealing with Mr. Trump so far and saying she would stand up to him if necessary.
“It’s really not smart to immediately, and without solid reason, go to battle stations against the president,” Mr. Jacobs said.
The tone was markedly different in 2016, when Mr. Trump’s surprise win spurred anger among left-leaning voters and prompted a posture so strident and aggressive that Bill de Blasio, then the mayor of New York City, called it a “holy war.”
Mr. de Blasio met with Mr. Trump at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue days after he was elected, then immediately held a news conference outside, where he vowed to fight against harmful policies.
“This time around, some of what he’s proposing is even more extreme than the first time,” Mr. de Blasio said.
He observed that Mr. Trump is more responsive to force, so “if he thinks you’ll never fight him, then he really will roll right over you.” Mr. de Blasio also added that Mr. Trump “might be different this time, and you have to leave some space for that.”
Eight years later, Mr. Trump performed better than any Republican in the state since 2004 and in the city since 1988.
James Malatras, a top aide to former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, said that Mr. Trump’s victory had “moved the needle politically,” making it harder for the state’s Democrats to attack him than in 2016.
He likened Mr. Adams’s approach to the tack taken by Mr. Cuomo when Mr. Trump first took office. Even though Mr. Cuomo had enthusiastically backed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, he tried to look for ways to work with Mr. Trump and refrained from attacking him by name at first, Mr. Malatras said.
Ms. James, who faced criticism during her first race for attorney general that her strident criticism of Mr. Trump as an “illegitimate president” could jeopardize cases her office was bringing against him, said she would be aggressive in protecting the rights of New Yorkers.
“If possible, we will work with his administration,” Ms. James said at the news conference with Ms. Hochul, during which both refrained from insulting Mr. Trump and declined to take questions from the press. Behind the scenes, Ms. James has refused to drop the $486 million civil fraud verdict her office attained against Mr. Trump’s company.
Mr. Adams may yet be proven correct that a more subdued approach to Mr. Trump could yield results, at least for himself. At a news conference in Florida on Monday, Mr. Trump said that he would consider issuing Mr. Adams a pardon. He said, without citing evidence, that he believed that the mayor was being punished for criticizing the influx of migrants who have come to the city.
“I’m working with the president and his administration, and not warring with him,” Mr. Adams said in the Fox News interview. “I say that quote over and over again.”
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