What characteristics has Mr. Giuliani exhibited in the 35 years you’ve covered him?

He thinks he can do no wrong, and he wants to be in the spotlight. He was the first federal prosecutor who really put himself on television. He never missed a television appearance if he could manage it.

How did being a surrogate for Mr. Trump help Mr. Giuliani get back into the spotlight?

After 2012, he was on the outskirts of national politics. Then, in the 2016 race, the Trump campaign couldn’t find anyone to defend them after the “Access Hollywood” tape came out, in which Mr. Trump made vulgar comments about women.

Mr. Giuliani did. That helped forge a new closeness with Mr. Trump.

In 2001, Mr. Giuliani’s endorsement helped Michael Bloomberg win New York’s mayoral race. Can Mr. Giuliani influence the city anymore?

I don’t think being Donald Trump’s — what’s a polite word for it — being Mr. Trump’s man Friday is going to help him politically in New York.

How does Mr. Giuliani feel about New York?

He travels a lot. (He was in Budapest and Kyiv last week.)

He has fewer personal connections to New York City than he used to. Some of his former City Hall aides are still around. But his son works in Washington. His daughter lives in California. He’s in the midst of a divorce from his third wife. (They shared a co-op on the Upper East Side, a spacious home in the Hamptons and other properties.)

The offices of his business are fairly modest. When he’s in town, the Grand Havana Room is practically his office.