Billionaire businessman Elon Musk stated early Monday that President Trump’s administration is searching for to power New York Metropolis to return $59 million in federal funding that he claimed the town’s utilizing to pay for migrants to remain in “luxury hotels.”
Musk, whose unconventional position on Trump’s staff has given him important affect over federal authorities operations, wrote in a publish on X that the cash was distributed to Mayor Adams’ administration final week. The Division of Authorities Effectivity, the quasi-government company Trump tapped Musk to guide, found the disbursement, in keeping with Musk, who didn’t establish any luxurious motels within the metropolis the place the cash’s supposedly being spent.
“Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” Musk wrote. “That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals! A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds.”
Spokespeople for the White Home didn’t instantly return requests for particulars on how such a funding reversal would work.
Some migrants, particularly households with kids, are being housed in motels in New York — however they aren’t within the “luxury” class, famous Liz Garcia, an Adams spokeswoman. Garcia didn’t instantly present additional remark aside from to say Adams’ administration hadn’t as of early Monday afternoon acquired any official claw-back request from the feds.
Just lately arrived migrants and their kids are pictured exterior the Roosevelt Lodge in Midtown Manhattan early Monday November 13, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Day by day Information)
Musk’s missive comes as Adams has publicly averted criticizing Trump and his staff. After Trump’s inauguration final month, Adams stated the brand new president has “respect” for his administration and lauded Musk’s concentrate on bringing “efficiency” to the federal forms.
“I’m an Elon Musk guy,” Adams stated in a Jan. 22 look on Stephen A. Smith’s YouTube present.
The supply stated the money despatched to New York Metropolis final week was allotted below President Biden’s administration. It’s unclear how Trump and Musk would be capable of demand again cash that has already been legally disbursed.
The $59 million comes on high of the roughly $160 million Biden supplied Adams’ administration in 2023 and 2024. In complete, Biden’s administration allotted about $237 million in funding for the town’s migrant disaster, parts of which stay excellent, Garcia stated.
So far, Adams’ administration has, since spring 2022, spent almost $7 billion on housing and offering providers for tens of hundreds of largely Latin American migrants, a lot of whom are fleeing violence and poverty of their residence nations in hopes of claiming asylum within the U.S.
Mayor Eric Adams. (Barry Williams / New York Day by day Information)
For the reason that metropolis’s migrant inflow started, Adams has lamented what he sees as a scarcity of monetary help from the federal authorities. Irking many fellow Democrats, Adams laid blame straight on Biden, together with saying in 2023 that the then-president had “failed New York City on this issue.”
Adams has stated he gained’t criticize Trump publicly, although. As an alternative, he advised reporters final month he’ll focus on any disagreements with Trump privately.
That stance, coming amid Trump’s crackdowns on undocumented immigrants and threats to withhold federal funding, has sparked criticism of Adams on a number of fronts.
Critics, together with candidates difficult him in June’s mayoral main, have stated Adams’ deference to Trump makes it seem as if he’s hoping the Republican president can use his presidential authority to assist quash the mayor’s federal corruption indictment.
Most just lately, Adams’ authorized staff has tried to persuade Trump’s Division of Justice leaders to drop his corruption case outright. Meantime, Trump has stated he’s additionally contemplating pardoning Adams, claiming the mayor was handled unfairly by federal prosecutors.
