A nurse practitioner who has been romantically linked in the media with Rudy Giuliani says the former New York City mayor is expected to make a full recovery after being hospitalized with pneumonia this week.
In a brief interview with Fox News late Monday, Maria Ryan said Giuliani, 81, fell ill following a recent trip to Paris. When his breathing deteriorated, he was admitted to a hospital and placed on a ventilator.
“He’s a fighter. The way he was yesterday in such a critical condition, he did have a priest come anoint him,” she told the network. “And all the prayers from around the world, it’s like a miracle.”
“This guy’s got nine lives,” she added. “Today he’s doing much better.”
Giuliani’s spokesperson, Ted Goodman, echoed those sentiments in a short video posted to X on Monday. In it, he said the former Republican lawmaker’s condition was exacerbated by restrictive airway disease, related to his exposure to airborne toxins and debris following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center.
“Mayor Giuliani is the ultimate fighter. This is something he’s demonstrated time and time again throughout his life, and he’s going to win this fight,” Goodman said, noting his client ― once lauded as “America’s mayor” ― remains “in critical, but stable, condition.”
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Ryan, who has said she has a Ph.D. and is a board-certified nurse practitioner, is identified in the Fox News report as Giuliani’s “primary care provider.” Media speculation surrounding the nature of their relationship has been rampant for some time. The pair attended a state dinner at the White House together during President Donald Trump’s first term. From 2020 to 2024, they co-hosted the political podcast “Uncovering the Truth.”
Last year, biographer Andrew Kirtzman claimed Ryan had urged Trump to consider awarding Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In September, the president said he would bestow the award on Giuliani, who previously served as his personal lawyer and was disbarred over his push to undo Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential race.
In 2020, the New York Daily News went as far as to describe Ryan as Giulani’s “girlfriend” and reported the two had begun dating in 2018. Ryan, however, has insisted they are just business associates and pals.
“I am not his girlfriend. I consider him one of my best friends,” she told Newsweek in 2024.