Trump announces Presidential Medal of Freedom for Rudy Giuliani

Donald Trump has officially announced that he will award the highest civilian honor to Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and his longtime political ally.

Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, where he praised Giuliani as “the greatest mayor in the history of New York City and an equally great American Patriot.”

Primarily, the announcement comes two days after Giuliani sustained back injuries in a severe car accident in New Hampshire.

Presidential Medals of Freedom are particularly awarded to people who have made “exceptionally meritorious contributions to the nation’s prosperity, values, or security, world peace, or other significant public or private endeavors.”

Currently Giuliani has not made any public announcement on receiving the medal and it’s unclear when he will formally receive it.

In 2017, former President Barack Obama awarded Vice-President Joe Biden with the Medal of Freedom.

On Saturday evening, Giuliani was a passenger in a Ford Bronco when it was struck from behind at a high speed in the city of Manchester.

His security guard said he suffered back injuries as well as wounds and bruises.

In 2008, he made an unsuccessful run for US president and later on became one of Trump advisors during the latter’s 2016 campaign.

After his own political career was thwarted, he became a prominent advisor and supporter for Trump's legal team in 2018 and remained a part of it throughout the 2020 election.

He reached a settlement with two former election workers who won $148m (£120m) in damages as a court declared Giuliani liable for defamation over false election fraud claims.

Giuliani’s legal work with Trump terminated in early 2021, although an adviser said they retained cordial relations with each other.