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Rudy Giuliani departs from a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 15, 2023.
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President Donald Trump announced Monday he will confer former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S.’s highest civilian honor.
The announcement comes as Giuliani, who was also a lawyer and adviser to Trump, sustained injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire over the weekend and is “recovering tremendously,” according to his head of security and local police.
“As President of the United States of America, I am pleased to announce that Rudy Giuliani, the greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally great American Patriot, will receive THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, our Country’s highest civilian honor. Details as to time and place to follow. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social Monday.
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Just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, Giuliani, 81, was being driven in a Ford Bronco by his spokesperson, Ted Goodman, when a Honda RV driven by a 19-year-old woman “struck the back” of their vehicle. The impact sent both cars to the median and caused heavy damage, New Hampshire police reported Sunday.
Troopers and fire personnel witnessed the collision and immediately rendered aid, police added. Goodman and the 19-year-old driver, identified as Lauren Kemp, sustained “non-life-threatening” injuries and were sent to hospitals for treatment.
Michael Ragusa, Giuliani’s head of security, posted on X on Sunday that the now disbarred lawyer and podcast host had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” before the crash. Giuliani had “immediately rendered assistance” and stayed on scene until officers arrived to ensure her safety.
Travelling on the highway shortly after, Giuliani’s car was struck from behind “at high speed.”
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Ragusa said Giuliani was transported to a nearby trauma center where he was found with a fractured thoracic vertebra and multiple lacerations and contusions. Giuliani also sustained injuries to his left arm and lower leg.
“This was not a targeted attack,” Ragusa noted, adding a request to respect Giuliani’s privacy and recovery and for people to “refrain from spreading unfounded conspiracy theories.”
Giuliani is “fully alert and conscious, and his medical team is pleased with his progress,” Ragusa said in a statement to TIME on Monday, adding that the former mayor “is eager to return to his work and looks forward to getting back to business in just a few days.”
Giuliani’s own X account posted a news story about the incident and thanked Maria Ryan, “who is a board certified nurse practitioner overseeing the care of America’s Mayor . (Nurse practitioners do everything a doctor does except surgery).”
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The crash remains under investigation, state police said, and no charges have been filed.
“Thank you to all the people that have reached out since learning the news about my Father,” Rudy Giuliani’s son Andrew, who currently heads the White House task force on the 2026 World Cup, posted on X. “Your prayers mean the world.”
Dubbed “America’s Mayor,” Giuliani was TIME’s Person of the Year in 2001 for his leadership during and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Giuliani was also a onetime Republican presidential candidate in 2008.
He later became Trump’s personal attorney in 2018, and he was heavily involved in the President’s efforts to challenge and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which led to his disbarment in New York and D.C. as well as a $148-million defamation judgment against him, which he settled earlier this year.
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