Rudy Giuliani, close ally of Donald Trump, hospitalised and in critical condition

Rudy Giuliani, a close ally and former adviser to Donald Trump, has been hospitalised and is in critical condition.

The former mayor of New York City's condition was announced by President Trump, who described it as "so sad".

A spokesman for the former mayor said he "remains in critical but stable condition".

And Mr Trump, taking to TruthSocial said: "Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a true warrior, and the best mayor in the history of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition.

"What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!

"They cheated on the elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!"

Mr Giuliani served as mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, and was named as Time Person of the Year for 2001 for his leadership after the September 11 attacks.

His spokesman, Ted Goodman, said on social media: "Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he's fighting with that same level of strength as we speak."

It remains unclear what has caused Mr Giuliani to be hospitalised.

He was given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth on February 13, 2002 and dubbed "America's Mayor" by Oprah Winfrey for leading emergency efforts, frequently appearing at Ground Zero.

He was succeeded by then-Republican Michael Bloomberg in 2002, who left the party in 2007 during his mayoral term and later rejoined the Democratic party in 2018.

Last September, Mr Giuliani was involved in a car accident which left with multiple injuries as it was struck from behind in New Hampshire.

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He suffered a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, and injuries to his left arm and lower leg, his security guard said at the time.

Last year, the former mayor hit out at current New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying that seeing him in the oval office with the President made him "sick to my stomach".

And when asked to give advice to the socialist mayor, he told The New York Post: "My advice to him is to step down and do something else."

In 2008, he entered the Presidential campaign with the highest nationwide name recognition and early polling put him above all other declared Republicans.

And in the Democratic primary, Hilary Clinton led early polling, before being overtaken by Barack Obama, which led to 2016 being deemed as a replay of an election that never was.

After a failed 2008 presidential campaign, the former mayor left politics before becoming the President's adviser during his 2016 election campaign.

In 2017, he was named as informal cybersecurity adviser, and in 2018, joined the President's personal legal team, defending Mr Trump against Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

He garnered increasing controversy from several events in 2020, including an incident where he held a press conference in front of Four Seasons Total Landscaping, a local gardening business, instead of the Four Seasons hotel.