# The Eric Adams ambassadorship

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The Eric Adams ambassadorship," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-eric-adams-ambassadorship/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The September 2025 proposal, floated by Steve Witkoff, to remove Eric Adams from the New York mayoral race by offering him the embassy in Riyadh, which John Kiriakou thought likely to be attempted, on the reasoning that Donald Trump is not stupid, knows Adams cannot win, and would gain by forcing Zohran Mamdani to spend money.*

- **The idea:** Offer Eric Adams the US embassy in Saudi Arabia so he leaves the New York mayoral race
- **Who floated it:** Steve Witkoff
- **Adams''s standing at the time:** 10.6%, behind Zohran Mamdani on 38.2% and Andrew Cuomo
- **Why Riyadh fits:** The Saudis demand a political appointee anyway
- **Kiriakou''s odds:** 'I think it actually is likely'
- **His reasoning:** 'Donald Trump''s not stupid… if this was a stupid man, he''d be in jail right now'
- **The gain for Trump:** Forces Mamdani to spend money and lets the field coalesce
- **His later doubt:** Trump does what benefits Trump, and this does not really benefit him

**The Eric Adams ambassadorship** was a proposal reported in September 2025 and attributed to the presidential envoy Steve Witkoff: that the incumbent mayor of New York be removed from his own re-election race by being offered the American embassy in Saudi Arabia.[1]

## The arithmetic behind it

Adams was polling at 10.6%, behind Curtis Sliwa on 16.6%, Andrew Cuomo running as a third-party candidate, and [Zohran Mamdani](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/zohran-mamdani) on 38.2%. The object, as [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) and his host described it, was to clear the field so that Cuomo might beat Mamdani head to head.[2][3]

On Adams himself Kiriakou was careful with the wording and clear about the meaning: *"I can't say that he's corrupt. I mean, I think it's my opinion that he is corrupt and takes bribes"*, and he added, the opinion of most New Yorkers.[4]

## Why he thought it would be tried

*"I think it actually is likely,"* Kiriakou said, *"because Donald Trump's not stupid."* He supplied two proofs of the premise: *"if this was a stupid man, he'd be in jail right now"*, and *"if he was a stupid man, he wouldn't be the first person to be elected president without military or political experience."*[5]

From there the logic is straightforward. Trump *"knows that there's not a prayer for Eric Adams to win this race"*, so *"what do you do? You offer him ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Why not? That's going to make him happy. And [the Saudis want a political appointee anyway](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-saudi-demand-for-a-political-appointee)."*[6]

The gain is marginal rather than decisive: even if Trump has already concluded Mamdani will win, removing Adams *"at least forces Mamdani to spend some money"* and lets the rest of the field coalesce. *"It just makes it a little bit tougher."*[7]

## Why he then doubted it

Later in the same conversation Kiriakou qualified himself, agreeing that Trump was not committing to the plan because he could see it failing and dislikes being laughed at. The general rule he applied: *"Donald Trump does things that benefit Donald Trump. So how does this benefit Donald Trump? It doesn't really."*[8][9]

He also doubted the plan's premise. Mamdani had already reached the maximum permitted campaign contributions, was rising rather than falling in the polls, and *"the more that they pay attention to him, the more that people like him in New York."* The establishment effort, in his view, was *"counterproductive"*, *"it's just blowback."*[10][11]

## See also

- [The Saudi demand for a political appointee](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-saudi-demand-for-a-political-appointee)
- [Zohran Mamdani](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/zohran-mamdani)
- [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump)
- [Saudi Arabia As An Open Air Prison](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saudi-arabia-as-an-open-air-prison)
- [Kimberly Guilfoyle in Athens](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kimberly-guilfoyle-in-athens)

## Sources

1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 05:44. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=344s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 03:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=188s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 04:12. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=252s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 04:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=283s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
5. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 06:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=376s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
6. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 06:49. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=409s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
7. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 07:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=440s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
8. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 16:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=968s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
9. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 16:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=999s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
10. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 07:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=472s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/
11. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 08:23. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=503s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-eric-adams-ambassadorship/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt