New York. Time magazine has declared Donald Trump, who was elected as the US president, as ‘Person of the Year’ on Thursday. It acknowledged his surprising political comeback.
Trump, who defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election, graced the cover of the magazine wearing his signature red tie and striking a contemplative pose. “Donald Trump is TIME’s 2024 Person of the Year for orchestrating a historic comeback, reshaping a generation of political restructuring, reshaping the American presidency, and transforming America’s role in the world.”
This year, Trump was convicted of business fraud and tried twice on his life. And he is poised to return to the White House with Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. “We are witnessing a resurgence of populism, a growing distrust of the institutions that defined the last century, and an erosion of the belief that liberal values will lead most people to a better life. Trump is both the agent and beneficiary of all this,” the magazine said in a statement.
The annual award is a recognition of the most influential person of the year. Past winners include Taylor Swift, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Trump himself, after Hillary Clinton’s stunning defeat in 2018.
After dominating news events in 2024, Trump’s influence will continue when he assumes the presidency in January. This time, Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and major tariffs. This threatens to shake not only the US economy but also major trading partners.
He has expressed doubts about continuing to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression and has already become a shadow president, attracting foreign leaders to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
His Time magazine cover and return to the helm of the US government would have been unimaginable a few years ago. The Republican Party appeared ready to abandon her after supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn her 2020 election defeat.
A criminal case was filed against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election results and he was convicted in court on charges of sexual misconduct. He has become a divisive figure in US and world politics.
None of this, however, stopped him from rising to the top of the Republican ticket and then winning the general election against Harris. Harris was chosen for the award along with Mexican President Claudia Senbaum, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian economist Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Agency