Trump says Rudy Giuliani will receive top US civilian honour, calls him New York’s ‘greatest mayor’

US President Donald Trump on Sept 1 said he would award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rudy Giuliani, two days after the former New York City mayor was hospitalised following a car crash in New Hampshire.

The medal is considered the highest US civilian honour and is traditionally presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the US, world peace, or other significant societal, public, or private endeavours.

Mr Trump described Mr Giuliani as “the greatest Mayor in the history of New York City, and an equally great American Patriot” in a Truth Social post on Sept 1, announcing his decision to award him the medal. “Details as to time and place to follow,” he wrote.

Mr Giuliani was mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001 and was once known as “America’s Mayor” for his response to the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. In recent years, he worked as an attorney supporting Mr Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 US presidential election. 

In 2023, Mr Giuliani conceded in court that he had made defamatory statements about a pair of Georgia election workers when he falsely accused them of trying to help steal the 2020 election for Democrat Joe Biden. 

A federal judge found himi in civil contempt of court in January for not complying with requests from the workers for information about which of his assets could be used to pay off the defamation judgment.

A rental car carrying Mr Giuliani was hit from behind at high speed on the night of Aug 30, causing him to suffer a fractured vertebra as well as other cuts, according to a post by his spokesperson, Michael Ragusa, on social media. 

Mr Ragusa said in the post that Mr Giuliani was “in good spirits and recovering tremendously” after the accident. He added in a later post that the crash was “not a targeted attack”. REUTERS