New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Thursday that he will not seek reelection through the Democratic primary, instead launching a longshot bid as an independent candidate in the November general election. The decision, unveiled in a six-minute campaign video, comes just one day after a federal judge dismissed the corruption charges against him with prejudice, effectively ending his legal troubles.
“More than 25,000 New Yorkers signed my Democratic primary petition, but the dismissal of the bogus case against me dragged on too long, making it impossible to mount a primary campaign while these false accusations were held over me,” Adams said in his announcement. While maintaining his status as a Democrat, Adams emphasized his intention to appeal directly to all voters as an independent. “I firmly believe that this city is better served by truly independent leadership,” he declared.

A Steep Road Ahead

Adams’s decision to bypass the Democratic primary marks a risky gamble in a city where Democrats dominate the electorate by a six-to-one margin over Republicans. The move also reflects his growing estrangement from the Democratic Party, fueled by policy disagreements and his controversial handling of issues like immigration and public safety. His approval ratings have plummeted to 20%, and his campaign faces significant financial hurdles, with only $3 million on hand after raising just $36,000 in the last filing period.

The mayor’s announcement underscores the challenges he faces in redefining his political identity. “I’m in this race to the end,” Adams stated. “I’m not running on the Democratic line. It’s just not realistic to turn around my numbers and run a good campaign [from] where we are right now.”
Adams plans to submit 3,750 signatures by May 27 to secure his place on the general election ballot. His campaign will focus on appealing to working-class voters and ethnic minorities who propelled him to victory four years ago.

Fallout with Democrats Over Immigration

Adams’s relationship with the Democratic Party has been fraught with tension, particularly over immigration policy. As New York City grappled with an influx of over 210,000 migrants between 2022 and 2024, Adams repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for failing to provide adequate federal support. He declared a state of emergency in 2022 and warned that the crisis could cost the city $12 billion over three years.
In public statements, Adams accused federal officials of abandoning New York City. “Despite our pleas, the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system,” he said last year. His rhetoric often aligned more closely with conservative views, including calls for stricter measures against migrants accused of crimes.
This stance alienated many Democrats, who accused Adams of undermining progressive values and providing ammunition for Republican attacks. A December poll found that 85% of New York City voters were concerned about the migrant crisis—a sentiment Republicans have leveraged in competitive congressional races.
Adams’s willingness to work with Trump administration officials on immigration further strained his ties with Democrats. In December 2024, he met with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, to discuss deporting criminal migrants—a move that drew sharp criticism from progressive leaders.

Legal Troubles and Their Aftermath

Adams’s decision to run as an independent also follows months of legal battles stemming from a federal corruption indictment. The charges alleged that he accepted bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources. Although Adams maintained his innocence, the case cast a long shadow over his administration and campaign.
On Wednesday, Manhattan federal Judge Dale Ho dismissed the charges with prejudice, citing concerns about prosecutorial motives under former President Donald Trump’s Justice Department. Ho criticized what he described as an implicit bargain between federal prosecutors and Adams involving immigration policy concessions.
While the dismissal spares Adams from further legal jeopardy, it has not erased doubts about his leadership. In his campaign video, Adams acknowledged that the allegations may have shaken public confidence in him but insisted they were politically motivated. “Although the charges against me were false,” he said, “I trusted people I should not have and I regret that.”

A Shift Toward Independence

Adams framed his independent bid as an opportunity to rise above partisan divisions and focus on issues affecting everyday New Yorkers. “This city needs leadership rooted in the common middle,” he said. By running outside traditional party lines, Adams hopes to attract unaffiliated voters and those disillusioned with both major parties.
However, political analysts are skeptical about his chances. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo leads a crowded Democratic field vying for Adams’s seat, while Republicans are expected to field their own candidate. With limited funds and diminished support from party allies, Adams faces an uphill battle to rebuild his reputation before November.
Critics argue that Adams’s decision reflects desperation rather than strategy. His first term has been marred by scandals, budget shortfalls, and contentious policy decisions that alienated key constituencies. Even some former supporters question whether he can regain voters’ trust.

Shares in top US companies including Apple, Amazon and Tesla tumbled in after-hours trading on Wednesday as Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime threatened widespread upheaval to global supply chains.

Technology companies were among the hardest hit in initial market reaction, with contracts tracking the Nasdaq down 4 per cent. Apple, which is heavily exposed to additional tariffs on China, saw its shares plummet 7 per cent, with Amazon down about 6 per cent.

The escalation of Trump’s global trade war poses a significant risk to tech supply chains, after top executives spent months courting the president in an effort to soften or gain exemptions from policies that could hit their bottom line.

Tech companies were not the only ones suffering late on Wednesday. Shares in big retailers and consumer brands also sank after Trump’s tariffs announcement, with Walmart dropping 7 per cent. Target fell more than 5 per cent and sports apparel group Nike was off by 7 per cent in after-hours trading.

A 10 per cent universal tariff on all countries will apply from midnight eastern time on April 5, while higher “reciprocal” tariffs, which apply to multiple geographies including the EU, China, the UK, Japan and South Korea, are set to take effect from midnight eastern time on April 9.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote the spree of new tariffs was “worse than the worst case” scenario that markets feared. “Tech stocks will clearly be under major pressure on this announcement [over] worries about demand destruction, supply chains and especially the China and Taiwan piece of the tariffs.”

An executive at a Big Tech company said that operating under the current administration was like “trying to hit a moving target”. “I’m more worried he’s going to break the US economy” than any one set of tariffs, the person said.

Apple declined to comment on whether there was any prospect of it securing a carve-out from the new tariffs, as it managed to do during Trump’s first term. A White House spokesperson confirmed there were no exemptions for Apple in the president’s executive order.

Tim Cook, Apple chief executive, is walking a geopolitical tightrope, with the company’s supply chains tightly bound to China, where the likes of Foxconn pump out millions of iPhones each year. A $500bn spending plan announced in February was seen as an attempt to placate Trump.

Apple ships roughly 50mn iPhones to the US each year, with the vast majority made in China. The iPhone remains the company’s flagship product and accounts for more than half of its total revenue, with its Mac, iPad, wearables and fast-growing services business making up the rest.

Trump announced he would be imposing a “reciprocal” 34 per cent tariff on Chinese imports — on top of a 20 per cent tariff he has already imposed — as well as 26 per cent on India and 46 per cent on Vietnam, where Apple also manufactures.

The unilateral move affecting multiple crucial manufacturing countries would not only affect Apple’s close supply chain relationship with China, but also blunt any benefits from its attempts to diversify its manufacturing base elsewhere.

Amazon has similarly engaged in a recent campaign to woo Trump, having faced the president’s ire during his first term. Company founder Jeff Bezos attended Trump’s swearing-in ceremony and has dined with him several times in recent months.

The Seattle-based conglomerate is dependent on Chinese imports to stock its warehouses, and about a quarter of its retail arm’s costs are tied to China, according to Morgan Stanley analysts.

Nvidia shares, meanwhile, shed more than 5 per cent after-hours, despite the White House clarifying that semiconductors would be exempt from the reciprocal regime for now.

The chip giant relies on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to manufacture its cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips, whose sales have propelled the company to lofty valuations in the last two years. 

Nvidia, whose chief executive Jensen Huang similarly promised hundreds of billions of dollars in spending in the US over the next four years in an interview with the Financial Times last month, declined to comment.

TSMC shares were down about 6 per cent in after-hours trading. The company recently committed to investing an additional $100bn in US chip manufacturing.

Meta shares were meanwhile down around 5 per cent. It has previously warned that its China advertising revenues could be hit in the event of an escalating trade dispute with the US.

Trump also confirmed that 25 per cent tariffs will be imposed on all foreign-made cars and parts at midnight, hitting the stocks of all US carmakers.

Shares in Tesla fell 8 per cent in after-hours trading as investors worried about the impact on its global supply chain, as well as the prospect of retaliatory tariffs on the world’s largest electric vehicle maker. 

Last month Tesla warned that the cost of making cars would increase because “certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source within the US” and American vehicles would become less competitive overseas.

A White House factsheet said that cars and car parts “already subject to tariffs”, copper and “certain minerals that are not available in the US” would be exempt, without providing more details.

Daniel Newman, chief executive of The Futurum Group, described Trump’s move as a “rip the Band-Aid-off moment” for tech investors who have been jittery for weeks.

“You’re watching the market react and you’re going: the whole world has basically become completely dependent on us having this very accessible economy,” he said.

For retailers, the share moves came despite years of effort to diversify their supply chains after Trump placed heavy tariffs on imports from China in his first term. Suppliers to the Home Depot, the largest home improvement chain, moved some production to south-east Asia, Mexico and the US, chief executive Ted Decker said last month.

Target has shifted production of apparel out of China and increasingly to Central American countries such as Guatemala and Honduras, chief commercial officer Rick Gomez said last month. Trump hit Guatemala and Honduras with 10 per cent tariff rates on Wednesday.

Target declined to comment.

“These newly announced tariffs — and the expected retaliatory tariffs on American businesses — risk destabilising the US economy, undermining the goals of bolstering domestic manufacturing and growth,” said Michael Hanson, senior executive vice-president at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which counts Target as a member. 

The new tariffs sparked an immediate push for special relief. The Consumer Brands Association, whose members include food manufacturers PepsiCo, Mondelez and Kraft Heinz, petitioned to exempt certain “critical ingredients” from the levies.

“We encourage President Trump and his trade advisers to fine-tune their approach and exempt key ingredients and inputs in order to protect manufacturing jobs and prevent unnecessary inflation at the grocery store,” the association said.

Additional reporting by Rafe Uddin, Hannah Murphy and Alex Rogers