Time announced Trump’s choice this morning
Donald Trump even publicly speculated that Time would never name him the magazine’s Person of the Year.
Now the honor has been bestowed upon him twice.
On Thursday, Time named Trump this year’s pick, recognizing the president-elect as the individual or group considered to have exerted the greatest influence on global affairs “for better or worse.” To celebrate the unveiling of the magazine’s cover, Trump will ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump gave an extended interview to the magazine last month.
Time announced Trump’s choice in X this Thursday morning.
Donald Trump is TIME’s Person of the Year
— TIME (@TIME)
Trump’s selection reflects his first recognition in 2016, when Time named him “Person of the Year” following his unexpected rise to the presidency. This time, the revelation is the culmination of a remarkable comeback and resurgence that has the potential to alter modern American politics.
Despite the magazine’s dwindling circulation, Time’s “Person of the Year” remains an annual cultural touchstone, and the distinction has become something of an obsession for Trump over the years. The Washington Post reported that nearly a decade later, a Time cover naming him 2009 Person of the Year hung in several of his golf clubs, despite such an issue never being printed.
Through his widely followed Twitter account, Trump regularly intervened in the annual selection and amplified reports that suggested it should be him. In 2011, he criticized the magazine for choosing “The Protester”, in reference to the revolutions that were breaking out in the Arab world and the Occupy movement in the USA. A year later, he claimed that Time had “lost all credibility” by not including him on the list of the 100 most influential people of the year. Trump has also privately complained about the choices, particularly when Taylor Swift won in 2023. Trump has often fixated on the power the pop star wields and posted “I hate Taylor Swift” on social media earlier this year after she supported the Vice President Kamala Harris.
Over time, the title became a symbol of the fame and respect that Trump sought but seemed beyond his reach. In 2015, when the magazine named then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Person of the Year, Trump wrote on Twitter: “I told you @TIME Magazine would never choose me as Person of the Year, despite being the big favorite,” before to add: “They chose the person who is ruining Germany”.
Even after Time named Trump Person of the Year in 2016 — which he called “a great honor” on social media — he continued to closely monitor the results. The following year, Trump stated that he was again in contention for the distinction, but did not agree to an interview or a photo shoot. Time disputed his version of events.
Despite his regular criticism of the media, Trump has regularly granted access to older media outlets – including Time. In April of this year, he gave a long interview to the magazine at his club in Palm Beach. Harris turned down a similar opportunity, the magazine’s owner revealed in October.
Over the decades, the title has been bestowed on a wide variety of figures, from heads of state and activists to businesspeople and, in some cases, brutal authoritarian leaders. Every US president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, except Gerald Ford, has been named Person of the Year at least once. President Joe Biden and Harris were co-honors after they defeated Trump in 2020.
Members of Trump’s family are expected to attend Thursday’s event, including Ivanka Trump, according to a source familiar with the planning. It’s a rare public appearance for the president-elect’s daughter, who served as a senior adviser during his first term.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Hadas Gold contributed to this report.
