Following reports that New York City Mayor Eric Adams was allegedly being offered a position in the Trump administration as an incentive to drop out of the mayoral race, President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he would like to see the race be “one-on-one.”
The New York Times reported Wednesday that advisers to Trump have discussed giving incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, a position in the administration to clear the field and set up a head-to-head race between mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani and is now running as an independent.
The talks have also involved Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, the Times reported.
Adams’ campaign denied to ABC News that he had spoken with Trump and said he was not offered or asked for a role in Trump’s administration.
On Thursday, the president said “No” when asked if he’d urged any mayoral candidates to drop out, but went on to say he would like for it to be a head-to-head race.
“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 said.
In mid-July, after the Democratic primary, Trump told reporters that Cuomo should remain in the race.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
