Rudy Giuliani is hospitalized in critical condition and “is recovering from pneumonia” after being on a ventilator, his spokesman said.

The 81-year-old former New York City mayor is critical but stable, spokesman Ted Goodman said in a statement on Sunday.

On Monday, Giuliani’s spokesman said he is now breathing on his own, with his family and primary medical provider at his side.

Giuliani served as New York City’s mayor from 1994 to 2001. Goodman noted in Monday’s statement that Giuliani “ran toward the towers to help those in need” on Sept. 11, 2001, “which later led to a diagnosis of restrictive airway disease.”

“This condition adds complications to any respiratory illness, and the virus quickly overwhelmed his body, requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain adequate oxygen and stabilize his condition,” he said. “He is now breathing on his own, with his family and primary medical provider at his side.”

Former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani participates in a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks in New York, Sept. 11, 2025.
Seth Wenig/AP

Restrictive lung disease refers to a group of conditions where the lungs can’t fully expand, so people take in less air and often feel short of breath, according to the CDC.

After his term as mayor, Giuliani was a personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, who wrote about Giuliani’s hospitalization in a social media post on Sunday. The president called Giuliani “a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR.”

A spokesperson for Eric Adams, who was the city’s mayor from 2022 to 2025, noted Giuliani’s service in a statement.

“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,” Adams spokesperson Todd Shapiro said.

People with restrictive lung disease face a higher risk of pneumonia because stiff or scarred lungs make it harder to clear mucus and fight infection.

Studies show patients with interstitial lung disease have significantly higher hospitalization and death rates from pneumonia than the general population, especially in older adults and those with advanced disease.

There are about 650,000 cases of interstitial lung diseases in the U.S. Various conditions that fall within this diagnosis are linked to 9/11 exposure and are covered by the World Trade Health program.