Rudy Giuliani, the 81-year-old former New York City mayor and one of Donald Trump’s most loyal allies, was rushed to a Florida hospital over the weekend and placed on a ventilator after pneumonia overwhelmed his lungs. His spokesperson confirmed he is in “critical but stable condition,” and for a stretch of time, things looked grim enough that a priest was called to administer last rites.
As of Tuesday, Giuliani is off the ventilator and breathing on his own. His doctor says she expects a full recovery. But the speed at which this escalated, from a raspy voice on a Friday night livestream to a ventilator and a priest at his bedside, has rattled people on both sides of the aisle.
Friday Night Was the First Sign Something Was Wrong
Giuliani hosted his nightly online show, “America’s Mayor Live,” on Friday evening from Palm Beach, Florida. Viewers noticed he was coughing more than usual and his voice sounded hoarse. He acknowledged it on air, telling his audience: “My voice is a little under the weather, so I won’t be able to speak as loudly as I usually do, but I’ll get closer to the microphone.”
Nobody thought much of it at the time. An 81-year-old man with a scratchy throat on a Friday night doesn’t exactly make headlines. But by the next day, Giuliani was admitted to Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach. His condition deteriorated rapidly, and doctors placed him on a ventilator to maintain adequate oxygen levels.
A Priest Was Called to His Bedside
This is the detail that tells you how serious it got. Dr. Maria Ryan, Giuliani’s primary care provider, told Fox News that when his condition turned critical, a Catholic priest was brought in to anoint him and perform last rites. For those unfamiliar, last rites is a sacrament the Catholic Church administers to people who are believed to be near death. It’s not something done casually.
“He’s a fighter,” Dr. Ryan told reporters. “The way he was yesterday in such a critical condition, he did have a priest come anoint him.” She then added: “And all the prayers from around, it’s like a miracle. This guy’s got nine lives. Today he’s doing much better.”
By Tuesday, Giuliani had been removed from the ventilator entirely. He was breathing independently and was reportedly able to speak again. Dr. Ryan said she expects him to make a full recovery, though he remains in critical but stable condition and is still being monitored.
The 9/11 Connection That Made This So Dangerous
What turned a case of pneumonia into a life-or-death situation is a condition Giuliani has carried with him for nearly 25 years. He was diagnosed with restrictive airway disease, sometimes called “World Trade Center Cough,” as a result of being present at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001.
When the Twin Towers collapsed, they released a massive cloud of pulverized concrete, asbestos, glass, and other materials that blanketed roughly one-fifth of Manhattan. Giuliani was two blocks away when the first tower fell at 9:59 a.m. He breathed that air, just like the thousands of firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and construction workers who rushed to the scene.
Thousands of those first responders have battled the same lung conditions in the years since. Many have died. Giuliani’s spokesperson, Ted Goodman, pointed this out in his official statement: “On September 11th, 2001, as so many of us so vividly remember, Mayor Rudy Giuliani ran toward the towers to help those in need, which later led to a diagnosis of restrictive airway disease.”
That pre-existing lung damage is what made pneumonia at 81 turn critical so fast. His spokesperson said the condition “adds complications to any respiratory illness,” and that “the virus quickly overwhelmed his body, requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain adequate oxygen and stabilize his condition.”
This Isn’t the First Health Scare in Recent Years
Giuliani’s body has taken a beating over the past several years, which makes the current hospitalization even more concerning in context. In 2025, he was seriously injured in a car crash in New Hampshire after leaving a minor league baseball game. The vehicle he was riding in, a rental Ford Bronco driven by his spokesperson Ted Goodman, was rear-ended at high speed on Interstate 93.
Giuliani fractured a thoracic vertebra and suffered cuts, bruising, and injuries to his left arm and lower leg. His recovery required a wheelchair and chest brace for public appearances. He attended the 2025 September 11th commemoration ceremony in a wheelchair. He also survived prostate cancer back in 2000 and spent four days hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2020.
According to Dr. Ryan, the current pneumonia episode began shortly after Giuliani returned from a trip to Paris. His breathing deteriorated quickly from there.
Trump’s Response Was Swift and Personal
Less than an hour after Goodman confirmed the hospitalization on Sunday, President Trump posted on Truth Social. He called Giuliani a “True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR.” Trump also wrote: “What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL, AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!”
The relationship between Trump and Giuliani goes back decades, but it intensified dramatically after the 2020 election. Giuliani served as Trump’s personal lawyer and was at the center of the legal effort to challenge the election results. That relationship has defined the later years of Giuliani’s career, for better and for worse.
In September 2025, Trump announced he was awarding Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In November of that year, Trump pardoned Giuliani along with dozens of other people connected to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The pardon was largely symbolic, since none of those pardoned had been convicted of federal crimes.
The Legal and Financial Troubles Hanging Over Him
The hospitalization comes during a period when Giuliani’s life outside the hospital has been its own kind of crisis. Two former Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, won a $148 million defamation judgment against him for false allegations he made about them after the 2020 election. As they tried to collect on that judgment, Giuliani was found in contempt of court and faced a trial over the ownership of some of his assets.
He was disbarred in both New York and Washington, D.C., over his involvement in the election challenges. He pleaded not guilty to state criminal charges related to an election subversion scheme in Arizona, while a similar case in Georgia was eventually dropped by prosecutors. He has denied any wrongdoing across the board.
The man who once dismantled the Mafia’s “Five Families” as a federal prosecutor in the 1980s, securing sentences in excess of 100 years in some cases, has spent the last few years fighting to hold onto his own freedom and finances. It’s a dramatic fall from the days when he was universally known as “America’s Mayor.”
Politicians From Both Sides Sent Well Wishes
What’s been somewhat unusual about this situation is how the response has crossed political lines. Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who left office in 2025, wished Giuliani “strength, good health, and a full recovery,” adding that the “moment rises above politics.” Adams’ spokesperson, Todd Shapiro, also acknowledged Giuliani’s service: “From his years as a federal prosecutor to leading New York City through its darkest day on 9/11, he stood with this city when it needed him most.”
New York’s current mayor, Zohran Mamdani, also sent well wishes. Regardless of how people feel about Giuliani’s post-2020 legal entanglements, there seems to be a general acknowledgment that watching an 81-year-old man fight for his life on a ventilator isn’t the time for partisan shots.
His Family Is at His Side
Giuliani’s family has been at the hospital throughout. His son, Andrew Giuliani, currently serves as executive director of the presidential task force for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Giuliani family, through Goodman, expressed deep appreciation for the “outpouring of love and support” that has come in from around the country.
Goodman’s statement summed up the mood around Giuliani’s inner circle: “Mayor Giuliani is the ultimate fighter, as he has demonstrated throughout his life, and he is winning this battle. He remains in critical but stable condition. Please keep the prayers coming.”
Giuliani’s head of security, Michael Ragusa, confirmed via email that the former mayor is hospitalized in Florida but kept things tight. “All the information we are allowed to give is out right now,” he said. It was clear the team was being careful about what they released and when.
Where Things Stand Now
As of the latest updates, Giuliani is off the ventilator, breathing on his own, and able to talk. Dr. Ryan expects a full recovery. But he’s still in critical condition and being monitored at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Nobody is calling this over yet.
For a man who has lived as many lives as Rudy Giuliani, Brooklyn kid turned Mafia prosecutor turned two-term mayor turned “America’s Mayor” turned Trump’s personal lawyer turned disbarred defendant, this latest chapter is another sharp turn in a story that never seems to slow down. Whether you admire him or can’t stand him, the fact that he went from hosting a livestream on Friday night to receiving last rites by Saturday is the kind of thing that puts everything else in perspective, at least for a moment.
