NYC Mayor Eric Adams is going to Donald Trump’s inauguration

Eric Adams is making a last-minute trip to Washington, D.C., to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, after being invited after midnight, the New York City mayor announced Monday morning.

The mayor began the drive in the middle of the night, his office said.

Adams, who met Friday with Trump in Florida, had avoided saying for weeks whether he would go to the inauguration, saying that his schedulers would make the decision.

But just before 8:30 a.m. Monday, the decision was announced as an update to Adams’ public schedule. The news came less than four hours before the swearing-in ceremony, which is scheduled for noon. All Adams’ appearances to memorialize Martin Luther King Jr. were canceled on the updated schedule and Adams was headed to Washington, with a plan to return to New York afterward, the schedule says.

Adams got the invitation from the incoming Trump administration after midnight and began the drive soon thereafter, according to Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak.

“In the early hours of Monday morning, the Trump administration reached out inviting Mayor Adams to attend the inauguration at the incoming administration’s request,” she said in a text message. “Mayor Adams accepted on behalf of New York City. As the mayor has repeatedly said, America has chosen a new national leader and we must work together to build a safer, stronger, and more affordable … New York City.”

Adams, a Democrat, has been praising Trump since soon after the mayor was indicted in September on charges that he traded luxury travel and political donations from foreign sources in exchange for municipal favors. Adams has pleaded not guilty.

Late last year, Trump said he’d consider pardoning Adams, suggesting that the indictment was retribution for criticizing the Biden administration over the migrant crisis.

Adams’ praise for Trump is in contrast with past years, when Adams routinely criticized him.

In 2021, Adams said: “As always, Trump gets it wrong.”