President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan denied that there was any “deal” with New York City Mayor Eric Adams that had led to the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordering the Southern District of New York to drop its case against the embattled mayor.
Newsweek reached out to the New York City mayor’s office by email for comment on Sunday morning.
Why It Matters
The Southern District of New York in September brought charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery against Adams. The charges were in connection with an alleged $100,000 in luxury gifts and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish officials and businesspeople for opening a consulate in New York without proper fire inspections. Adams has denied all allegations against him.
However, the DOJ last week ordered the charges against Adams dropped, prompting more than half a dozen federal prosecutors to quit rather than enforce the order.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
What To Know
Adams and Homan appeared on Fox & Friends on Friday, when Homan said he would be holding Adams to account, and that if he did not deliver on their agreement in the coming weeks and months, he would walk into the mayor’s office and demand to know why.
A New York Times/Ipsos survey (January 2-10) found that 55 percent of voters back Trump’s mass deportation plan, while 88 percent support deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Most Democrats and Republicans agree that the immigration system is broken.
Homan appeared on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, where host Dana Bash directly confronted him on the suggestion that there was a deal agreed between the two administrations.
While she did not describe the situation as a “quid-pro-quo” agreement, she stressed that it appears Homan is putting pressure on Adams to “play ball when it comes to immigration.”
“I totally understand you do not work in the Department of Justice, but you do work in the broader Trump administration,” Bash said.
“Just as somebody who is in law enforcement, you call yourself a cop, just looking at the series of events, sir, the fact that you didn’t get what you wanted—you came away, not sure why he [Adams] wasn’t doing what he wanted him to do, particularly with opening Rikers [Island jail complex], the Department of Justice gets rid of the charges against him, and then, poof, he agrees.”
‘Two Cops Having a Good Time’
Homan pushed back against Bash, pointing to repeated past criticism he made publicly against Adams, saying he “didn’t think [Adams] was doing the right thing as far as public safety threats,” but that he believed that the “cop” in Adams eventually moved him to make the agreement for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to enter Rikers—which has not been allowed since 2015 when it started operating as a sanctuary city.
“He talked about how he wants public safety threats removed from New York City,” Homan said. “He wants illegal alien crime to decrease in New York City, and there’s a way we should collaborate on that we agree that he doesn’t want to be an immigration officer.”
“I don’t want him to be an immigration officer. We agreed on that,” Homan added. “I just want him to help me with the public safety threats, leave immigration enforcement to us, so it was a great meeting. Just the actions following up that meeting were slow to happen.”
“This is two cops talking… And people are making a lot out of nothing.”
Trump border czar Tom Homan downplays telling New York Mayor Eric Adams that he’d be “up his butt” if Adams “doesn’t come through” on immigration enforcement in his city. pic.twitter.com/RbQJY1zwGA
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) February 16, 2025
Specifically addressing his appearance on Fox & Friends, Homan argued that “we’re talking cop” and that it “was a joke.”
“If you played the tape further, he laughs and immediately responds, ‘Well, I will hold you accountable, hold ICE accountable, to get what they did done,” Homan said. “I’m telling him I need you to come through on your promise, he responds that I need to come through on mine, so this is a conversation between two cops having a good time, and people are making a lot out of nothing.”
“I told him, I want to arrest a bad guy. I want to arrest the public safety threats. I want to get Rikers Island so we can get the public safety threat,” Homan added.
What People Are Saying
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of Meidas Touch Media, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “This is just sheer brazen criminality by DOJ. Adams gets federal corruption charges dropped not because there isn’t overwhelming evidence, but because he agrees to help Homan round up migrants. And Homan says the charges will be refiled if Adams doesn’t ‘come through.'”
Maria Cardona, a Democrat strategist and CNN commentator, wrote on X: “No one believes the Mayor Adam’s charges being dropped and the sudden ICE access to Rikers is NOT a quid pro quo. Don’t pee on our collective legs and tell us it’s raining! Good for you [Dana Bash] for pushing Trump Border Czar Tom Homan on what is obviously a deal cut w Adams as long as he does what Trump/ICE wants.”
Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York, a Republican, said during an appearance on Fox News: “I’m glad that the president and Tom Homan put pressure on Mayor Adams to finally do this, because I’ve been calling for this for quite some time. And it makes it so much easier and safer for our law enforcement to be able to take people right from the jail as opposed to having to go into communities and find them, which is much more dangerous and risky for them.”
What Happens Next
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has been pressured to remove Adams as mayor of New York City, but she has insisted that she will not make a knee jerk, politically-motivated decision.
Meanwhile, ICE will begin its operations in New York City, with Homan telling Bash that officers will look to go into schools and churches “if we have a significant public safety threat,” such as an MS-13 gang member in high school.