Time magazine has named President-elect Donald Trump its 2024 person of the year, the second time the publication has given him that title.
Alongside the announcement of its person of the year pick Thursday, Time published an extensive interview with Trump in which he discusses the election, immigration, pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, the Middle East and Ukraine. Time also had a companion post fact-checking claims Trump made in the interview.
The publication’s annual designation has little significance, but its picks have sometimes courted controversy. Time explains that the title is given to “the individual who, for better or for worse, did the most to shape the world and the headlines over the past 12 months.” Based on that criteria, it’s hard to disagree with its pick this year: Trump has survived assassination attempts, molded the Republican Party in his image — and arguably forced the U.S. electorate into a rightward shift — and won the presidential election.
In fact, in years when there’s a U.S. presidential election, it’s rare for the winner not to take the title. Trump was first named Time’s person of the year in 2016, when he was first elected president.
Time has also named several of the most notorious leaders in history its person of the year, including Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin, as well as giving the title to “The Computer,” “The Protestor” and, controversially, “you.”
This year, however, the announcement seems to have drawn little attention outside MAGA circles and among die-hard liberals. But if there’s one person for whom it carries enormous significance, it’s likely Trump himself, who has long been preoccupied with the title.
“This is an honor, a tremendous honor,” Trump said Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange, where he rang the opening bell, adding, “Time magazine, getting this honor for the second time, I think I like it better this time, actually.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
