Mayor Eric Adams insisted President Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan was joking — and later apologized — after publicly threatening to be up Hizzoner’s “butt” if he fails to crack down on illegal migrants.

The Trump appointee threw the brazen warning at the mayor during a joint appearance on Fox News last week as the Democratic mayor vowed to comply with Trump’s anti-illegal immigration push.

“Tom and I [were] ribbing each other prior to coming on the stage. We’re two ex-police officers, this is what we do. We joke at each other,” Adams told NY1 Wednesday when asked about Homan’s bizarre comment.

“Some of our commentary is, you know, inappropriate if you’re on the stage. And he spoke with me, he says, ‘You know, Eric, I mean, you know, we’re on TV. I should not have said that. I apologize to you.’”

Adams added, “Listen, was he trying to say something that was trying to be offensive? No, he was not. It was clear when we saw the two of us sit down together, there was a cordial interaction.”

The eyebrow-raising threat came as Homan and Adams — in an unusual bipartisan display — were discussing how the feds and Big Apple officials planned to work together to address the ongoing border crisis.

“If he doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City and we won’t be sitting on the couch, I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, ‘Where the hell is this agreement we came to?’” Homan said, seated next to Adams on a couch for the “Fox & Friends” interview last Friday.

Hizzoner laughed loudly, before hitting back, “And I want ICE to deliver.”

“We’re going to deliver for the safety of the people of this city,” he said.

The back-and-forth only added to the blowback Adams was facing from the left over his willingness to work with the White House — and accusations of engaging in a “quid pro quo” with the Trump administration to get the federal corruption case against him tossed.

The joint appearance, which followed a closed-door meeting between Adams and Homan a day earlier at the ICE headquarters in Manhattan, resulted in some critics claiming Hizzoner was being held hostage by the Trump admin.

Adams, however, insisted he wasn’t caving to the White House.

“I’ve been very clear and I’m hearing people say over and over again, ‘Eric, you’re saying something different now we have a new president in office.’ That is just not true,” he told NY1.

“Go back to January 22, 23, early 24. I will say the same thing. People who commit violent crimes in our city, documented or undocumented, need to be held accountable.”

“And if you’re undocumented, after you serve your time, you should be removed from our country,” he added.