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We will see if President Donald Trump<\/strong> is able to buy Gaza and Greenland. But as of Monday, Trump owns Eric Adams.<\/strong><\/p>\n Last September, the mayor of New York City was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, soliciting foreign campaign contributions, and bribery in a five-count federal indictment. Adams denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all charges; he also quickly began claiming, without evidence, that the charges were punishment<\/a> for the mayor\u2019s complaints about Joe Biden<\/strong>\u2019s immigration policy. That victimization argument found two very sympathetic ears on Trump: \u201cWe were persecuted, Eric,\u201d the then presidential hopeful said at a charity dinner<\/a> they both attended in October. \u201cI was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.\u201d<\/p>\n After Trump won in November\u2014with Adams\u2019s April-set trial looming\u2014the mayor\u2019s groveling kicked into full gear, aggressively and embarrassingly. Adams flew to Florida for lunch with the president-elect; he raced to Washington in the middle of the night<\/a> to attend Trump\u2019s inauguration; and he made another trip to DC to show his face at a prayer breakfast where Trump was speaking. The mayor also broadcast his willingness to get out of the way of Trump\u2019s deportation offensive, and Adams wisely hired Elon Musk<\/strong>\u2019s lawyer to handle his defense.<\/p>\n All the suck-uppery paid off. On Monday, Trump\u2019s acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove,<\/strong> sent a letter telling the prosecutors handling the case to drop it. As if the letter\u2019s becoming public so quickly didn\u2019t send a clear enough message, Bove\u2019s language, while not criticizing the merits of the case or the prosecutors involved, made plain what Trump wants for his end of the deal: \u201cWe are particularly concerned about the impact of the prosecution on Mayor Adams\u2019 ability to support critical, ongoing federal efforts \u2018to protect the American people from the disastrous effects of unlawful mass migration and resettlement,\u2019\u201d Bove wrote, quoting, in that last bit, one of Trump\u2019s executive orders. And if Adams does not supply sufficient \u201csupport\u201d for the president\u2019s agenda? Well, Bove happened to mention that the case could be reviewed down the road after this year\u2019s mayoral election.<\/p>\n For the time being, though, New York City will be governed by a mayor who is beholden to a right-wing would-be tyrant. The ugly consequences were already in motion before Trump moved to squash Adams\u2019s trial. Hours before news of Bove\u2019s letter broke, The City reported<\/a> that Adams was telling his top commissioners not to criticize the president and not to interfere with immigration raids. (\u201cMayor Adams often speaks to his top leaders to discuss what they\u2019re seeing on the ground in their respective departments and ways we can continue working together to provide for the people of New York City,\u201d mayoral press secretary Kayla Mamelak Altus<\/strong> told The City after its article was published. \u201cAs he has said publicly many times, the mayor wants to find ways to work with the federal administration, not war with them.\u201d) \u201cThere should no longer be any doubt that Eric Adams is going to be selling out immigrant New Yorkers in order to keep himself out of prison,\u201d says Murad Awawdeh,<\/strong> the president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition.<\/p>\n One of the many other dangers is Trump\u2019s threat to dismantle the federal Department of Education, a move that could cost the city\u2019s public schools $2 billion. Is Adams now too compromised to put up a fight?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n