The whirlwind week of Rudy Giuliani continues: Donald Trump has just announced that he plans to honor the former New York City mayor with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Right now Trump is facing his own controversy. He was uncharacteristically quiet and away from press cameras for much of Labor Day weekend — and there was rife speculation about his health. Trump then took to his Truth Social account, as he usually does, and claimed that he’s “never felt better,” going on to talk about how he has now made Washington, D.C., a crime-free zone. So the last thing anyone expected was that he would have the bandwidth to spare some thoughts about Giuliani.
In case you missed it, Giuliani was involved in an unfortunate accident in New Hampshire this past weekend. But the former lawyer of the president got into yet another controversy simply because of how his team decided to report the story. His head of security started the announcement by claiming that earlier in the day Giuliani was stopping a domestic violence issue, even though it was not related to the accident at all. He also claimed he was the one who eventually called the police who ended up stopping the domestic violence dispute and later saved him from his accident wreckage. The NH State Police have yet to confirm those claims, and the story has since veered into the ethers of internet speculation.
Giuliani’s claims made it seem like he was simply trying to be the hero of the day and possibly even trying to rehabilitate his public reputation. Giuliani’s relationship with Trump has had its ups and downs and has long been the subject of wonder among political pundits. The former New York City mayor’s involvement in Trump’s futile attempt to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, led to the two rarely acknowledging each other publicly.
CNN was able to reach Giuliani’s spokesman Ted Goodman, who was also in the New Hampshire accident with the former mayor, for comments on the president’s announcement. Goodman — now presumably still in recovery — said, “There is no American more deserving of this honor. Mayor Rudy Giuliani took down the Mafia, saved New York City, comforted the nation following 9/11, and served in countless other ways to improve the lives of others. Thank you, President Trump, for honoring his life and legacy.”
Trump has recently been warming up to Giuliani again in subtle ways. Just this June, the president invited the former NYC mayor back into his fold when he appointed Giuliani to an advisory council inside the Department of Homeland Security. Furthermore, in the same month, Trump also appointed Giuliani’s son Andrew as the person in charge of the White House task force for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026.
Trump’s relationship with Giuliani cannot be ignored in this matter. While it is undeniable that the former mayor does have some highlights in his political career — his conduct outside of public office has far overtaken how the public perceives him. But Trump — even with his picks for the Kennedy Center Honorees — has made it clear: to the president, what matters is loyalty above all.
