Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was rushed to a Florida hospital and placed on a ventilator after severe respiratory distress, with a spokesman confirming Sunday that the 81-year-old remains in critical but stable condition in an intensive care unit in West Palm Beach.
Ted Goodman, a political strategist who launched a livestream program with Giuliani, broke the news on X Sunday evening. A source familiar with Giuliani's condition told Fox News Digital that he has been diagnosed with pneumonia.
The hospitalization comes nearly eight months after Giuliani suffered serious injuries in a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 93 in Manchester, New Hampshire, and it has drawn immediate public support from President Donald Trump, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and others who remember Giuliani's decades of public service.
Goodman's statement was direct but spare on medical detail. He described Giuliani as a fighter and asked the public for prayers.
"Mayor Rudy Giuliani is currently in the hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition. Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he's fighting with that same level of strength as we speak. We do ask that you join us in prayer for America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani."
The cause of his illness has not been formally disclosed beyond the pneumonia diagnosis reported by Fox News Digital's source. The New York Post reported that two days before the hospitalization, Giuliani coughed on his show and said he was "under the weather."
Newsmax reported that Giuliani was placed on a ventilator after severe respiratory distress and is being treated in the intensive care unit at a West Palm Beach hospital. The outlet noted that his health complications may be linked to chronic lung issues associated with exposure during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a detail that adds grim context for anyone who remembers Giuliani walking through the dust and debris at Ground Zero.
The specific hospital has not been publicly identified. No official hospital statement has been reported; the "critical but stable" description traces back to Goodman's post on X.
President Trump weighed in quickly. Writing on Truth Social, he called Giuliani a "True Warrior" and the best mayor in New York City history.
"Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition. What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL, AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!"
Trump added: "They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!"
The president's willingness to stand publicly with Giuliani at a moment of medical crisis is consistent with the loyalty he has shown allies facing personal hardship. Readers may recall that Trump himself recently described slowing his own Secret Service evacuation during the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting, a reminder that emergencies involving senior political figures have become an unsettlingly regular feature of American life.
Perhaps the most notable statement came from the office of Eric Adams, the former New York City mayor. Todd Shapiro, Adams's spokesperson, said Sunday that even though Adams and Giuliani did not always agree politically, the moment "rises above politics."
"On behalf of Eric Adams, we are wishing strength, good health, and a full recovery to Rudy Giuliani, a man who devoted his life to public 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."
Shapiro continued: "Public service at that level demands sacrifice, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to the people you serve. Whatever differences may exist, those contributions deserve respect. We are keeping him and his family in our thoughts."
That statement deserves notice. Adams is a Democrat. Giuliani is a Republican who spent years as Trump's personal attorney and became a target of aggressive legal and political campaigns. For Adams's team to publicly acknowledge Giuliani's service record, and to do so without hedging or qualification, says something about the gravity of the moment. It also says something about what used to be normal in American politics: the ability to set aside disagreements when a public servant's life is on the line.
The broader political environment has made that kind of grace rarer. In recent weeks, calls to cool political rhetoric have come from both sides of the aisle after a string of alarming incidents targeting officials.
Giuliani's hospitalization lands against the backdrop of a serious car accident that left him with significant injuries roughly eight months ago. New Hampshire State Police said the crash happened just before 10 p.m. on Interstate 93 in Manchester. Troopers and fire personnel were already on the southbound side handling a reported domestic-violence incident when they witnessed a two-vehicle collision on the northbound side.
Michael Ragusa, Giuliani's head of security and spokesman, told Fox News Digital at the time that Giuliani was diagnosed with "a fractured thoracic vertebrae," along with multiple lacerations, contusions, and injuries to his left arm and lower leg. Despite his own injuries, Giuliani reportedly helped a woman at the scene and called 911, remaining until police arrived.
Ragusa said Giuliani was in "good spirits and recovering tremendously." He also moved to tamp down speculation, posting on X that the crash was not targeted.
"This was not a targeted attack. We ask everyone to respect Mayor Giuliani's privacy and recovery, and refrain from spreading unfounded conspiracy theories."
Ragusa added that Giuliani's business partner and medical provider went to the hospital to oversee his care. Whether lingering effects from that crash have compounded Giuliani's current condition is unknown. But a fractured vertebra and the kind of recovery it demands are no small matter for a man in his eighties.
Security concerns around political figures have remained elevated. Just recently, the Secret Service arrested a man at a Trump Doral golf club checkpoint, underscoring the persistent threat environment that surrounds the former president's orbit.
Whatever one thinks of Giuliani's post-mayoral political career, his record of public service is long and consequential. He served as a federal prosecutor before becoming mayor. He led New York City through the September 11 attacks, earning the title "America's Mayor" for his visible, steady presence during the worst day in the city's modern history. A photo caption in Fox News Digital's report noted that Giuliani attended the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City on September 11, 2025.
He later became a central figure in Trump's legal and political battles, including challenges to the 2020 election results. Breitbart noted that Giuliani received a pardon from President Trump tied to 2020 election-related charges, a fact that underscores how deeply intertwined his fate has been with the broader political wars of the last several years.
Those legal battles took a personal toll. Giuliani faced financial pressure, reputational attacks, and a level of institutional hostility that few former mayors have ever endured. His allies have long argued that the prosecutions and civil actions against him were politically motivated, designed to punish him for his association with Trump and his willingness to challenge the 2020 election narrative.
Now, at 81, he is fighting for his health in a Florida ICU. Just The News confirmed that Giuliani was hospitalized Sunday and that Trump publicly acknowledged his condition.
Several questions remain open. The pneumonia diagnosis came from a single unnamed source. No hospital has issued a public statement. The full extent of Giuliani's medical situation, including whether his chronic lung issues from 9/11 exposure are a factor, and whether the New Hampshire crash injuries play any role, has not been disclosed.
His family has not released a public statement as of the reporting. The public is left to rely on Goodman's post and the unnamed source's account to Fox News Digital.
In a political climate where emergency responses to threats against public figures have become disturbingly routine, the hospitalization of a man who once embodied American resilience in the face of crisis carries its own weight.
Rudy Giuliani ran toward Ground Zero when others ran away. The least the country can do now is what Ted Goodman asked: pray for the man, and let him fight.
