Given the apparent likelihood of socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani winning the New York City mayoral race, talk has grown louder about the need for all but one of the other candidates to drop out to consolidate opposition votes against him.

Part of that speculation is the notion that the Trump administration has quietly offered a job to embattled NYC Mayor Eric Adams if he agrees to drop his re-election bid, rumors  fueled by a recent meeting between Adams and one of President Donald Trump's top envoys, according to the New York Post.

The idea is that if Adams, along with Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, exits the race, the anti-Mamdani vote can coalesce around former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who polls suggest has the best chance of defeating the socialist candidate proposing Marxist policies for the Big Apple.

Adams meets with Trump envoy

The Post reported on Thursday that Adams met quietly earlier this week with Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff during a brief trip to Florida on Monday for his birthday, though what was specifically discussed during that secretive meeting remains unknown.

Unnamed sources, however, have claimed that the White House has tried to incentivize the mayor to end his likely futile re-election bid with a job offer, which could include an ambassadorship or some other senior role short of a Cabinet position.

The sources also suggested that Trump himself has gotten involved to the extent of personally calling influential NYC businessman and radio host John Catsimatidis, who is mutually friendly with the president and mayor, to help convince Adams to accept the offer.

Adams has neither confirmed nor denied the possible job offer from the administration, and has given no indication, at least as of yet, that he intends to drop out of the race.

HUD position or ambassadorship?

Politico reported on Wednesday that, according to its unnamed sources, one possible job opportunity in the Trump administration that was on the table for Adams was a high-level position at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

One source indicated that Adams had been offered "something in HUD, like cities director or director of cities, how to get cities up and running again," but nothing of the sort was confirmed or denied on the record by spokespersons for the White House and the mayor.

Conversely, CNN reported that, per its own anonymous sources, the president's aides have been discussing a potential ambassadorship for Adams, possibly to Saudi Arabia, if he agrees to drop out of the mayoral race, though the outlet cautioned that nothing was "finalized" and, according to the sources, the conversations were "ongoing and extremely fluid."

As for Trump, while he hasn't openly called for Adams or any other candidate to drop out of the mayoral race, he did tell reporters on Thursday that he'd like to see "two people drop out," and further noted, "I’d prefer not to have a communist mayor of New York City."

Polls give Cuomo best shot

According to RacetotheWH, multiple polls show that socialist candidate Mamdani has a decisive lead in the 2025 NYC mayoral race over his top three competitors, including incumbent Mayor Adams, ex-Gov. Cuomo, GOP candidate Sliwa, and independent attorney Jim Walden.

In that crowded field, Mamdani averages around 40%, with Cuomo in second at 24.5%, Sliwa in third with roughly 15%, Adams lagging behind in fourth at less than 10%, and Walden coming in last with less than 2% support.

If the field is cleared of all other candidates except for Cuomo and Mamdani, however, the race tightens up to an average of 43-41% in favor of the socialist over the former governor, with some individual polls showing that Cuomo could actually defeat Mamdani if the opposition fully consolidates around him.