Mayor Adams’ surprise promise to avoid publicly criticizing President Trump is sending shockwaves through New York City, where many residents are looking to local leaders to openly fight back against Trump’s controversial plans to end birthright citizenship, deport millions of immigrants, repeal federal protections for transgender youth, pardon hundreds of convicted Jan. 6 rioters and more. Power Malu, a local immigrant advocate who helps provide services for new arrivals, said Wednesday he and his team have been staking out city emergency shelters on the lookout for feds engaged in deportations. His team hasn’t come across any raids yet, but Malu said migrants he has spoken with are terrified and unsure of whether to stay in city shelters amid Trump’s return to power. “The city does not feel safe, does not feel protected, and if you can’t criticize the president for things that he’s promising to do that directly impact your constituents, then you are not in a position to lead,” Malu said of the mayor. “It’s clear as day the message Adams is sending: He’s afraid he’s going to rub this guy the wrong way.” The public deference Adams has said he will show Trump as he begins his second term stands in sharp contrast to the mayor’s previous rhetoric. Just a few years ago, Adams described Trump as a “white supremacist.” “Donald Trump will never condemn white supremacists, because he is a white supremacist,” then-mayoral candidate Adams tweeted in October 2020, a month before Trump lost that year’s presidential election to Joe Biden. Fast forward to this Tuesday, when Adams announced he has committed to not openly criticize Trump now that he’s back in the White House. Adams will instead privately discuss any disagreements directly with Trump, who has offered him an “opportunity” to do so, the mayor said. Mayor Adams at the inauguration of President Trump at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images) Even some of Adams’ longtime supporters expressed shock about that stance, questioning how he can adopt it after campaigning as an anti-Trump champion in 2021. “It’s very painful, extremely disappointing and also unprincipled,” said Norman Siegel, a veteran civil rights lawyer who has been close with Adams for decades and was a prominent supporter of his 2021 campaign. “People supportive of Eric called me yesterday, this morning, and even previously, but yesterday in particular, saying, ‘that’s not the Eric we knew,'” continued Siegel, who declined to say whether he’ll endorse Adams for reelection this year. “At a time like this, you want the mayor to be out there and be outspoken, because Trump will have an impact on lots of people in New York City, not just immigrants, but lots of people. Everyone’s rights are in jeopardy right now, and so why is the mayor being silent?” Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan, who also endorsed Adams’ 2021 campaign and chairs the Council’s Finance Committee, agreed with Siegel. “New Yorkers need a guardian at the gate, not rose petals and red carpets,” Brannan said of Adams. More broadly, Adams’ approach to Trump has sparked pointed pushback from many Democrats, who say he has been overly cozy with the Republican and question whether he’s angling for a pardon from the president for his federal corruption charges. Following a private meeting with Trump in Florida last Friday, Adams headed to Washington, D.C. early Monday to attend his inauguration after getting a last-minute invite that required him to cancel several appearances at Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in New York. Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak didn’t say Wednesday whether mayoral staffers are supposed to now not criticize Trump in public, either. Like Adams, several of his top aides — including First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy, Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs Tiffany Raspberry and Deputy Chief of Staff Menashe Shapiro — have  spoken and written critically of Trump and his team, according to a News review of social media posts and other records. For instance, Torres-Springer, Adams’ second-in-command at City Hall, penned an op-ed in The Nation in 2017 with then-Councilman Brad Lander — who’s now running against Adams in June’s Democratic mayoral primary — in which they argued Trump’s agenda is full of “flaws” that leave his supporters “sorely disappointed,” including by “eliminating health care coverage for millions of Americans.” Asked about the aides’ previous comments about Trump, Mamalek reiterated Adams “wants to work with him, not war with him, and will therefore discuss his thoughts on policy privately.” The White House didn’t respond to questions. Migrants are pictured sitting in Tompkins Square Park across from a migrant re-ticketing center at St. Brigid School on E. 7th St. in Manhattan in January. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News) Many of Trump’s most controversial Day One moves relate to immigration, including an order terminating the ability to claim asylum in the U.S. and a vow to start deporting immigrants regardless of whether they have committed any crimes besides residing in the country without proper documentation. On Tuesday, Trump’s administration also rescinded a policy barring the feds from carrying out deportation raids in “sensitive locations,” including schools and churches. New York City’s home to more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants, a major segment of the local workforce, in addition to the tens of thousands of mostly Latin American nationals who have arrived since spring 2022 in hopes of claiming asylum. As a mayoral candidate, Adams tweeted that Trump’s “abusive” immigration enforcement tactics had hurt New Yorkers and that the Republican “left New York for dead” during the pandemic. This week, though, Adams said Trump “loves the city” and that they have “good synergy,” including on immigration policy. Migrants walk into Mexico after being deported from the U.S. at El Chaparral. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez) Another area of concern for New Yorkers is Trump’s executive order affirming the U.S. won’t recognize the existence of transgender individuals — a move he has paired with threats to withhold federal funding from states and municipalities that don’t fall in line in areas like college sports. Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City President Gabriel Lewenstein, whose LGBTQ rights group endorsed Adams in the 2021 general mayoral election, slammed the mayor for not publicly defending New York’s transgender youth in the face of Trump’s attacks. “It’s pretty pathetic. Instead of standing up for New Yorkers, he’s groveling at the feet of fascists,” Lewenstein said. “It feels like a pretty embarrassing last ditch attempt to save himself.” Their relationship is developing as Trump has said he’s actively considering pardoning Adams, who was indicted in September on criminal charges alleging he took bribes and illegal campaign cash from Turkish government operatives in exchange for political favors. Adams, who hasn’t ruled out accepting a pardon, pleaded not guilty and is supposed to stand trial in April.