Trump Is Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year

Time magazine on Thursday named U.S. President-elect Donald Trump its “Person of the Year,” citing his deep impact on American politics and the country’s role in the world.

“For marshaling a comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world, Donald Trump is Time’s 2024 Person of the Year,” Time Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs wrote in a letter to readers.

Interview With Time Magazine

The news magazine had previously bestowed the “Person of the Year” title to Trump in 2016 after his first presidential election victory. It named Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “Person of the Year” in 2020 after they defeated Trump. Pop star Taylor Swift received the title last year.

The latest “Person of the Year” issue features a wide-ranging interview with Trump conducted on Nov. 25 at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

In the interview, Trump said he will have a “big discussion” about ending childhood vaccination programs with vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, and his new administration could scrap some vaccines.

To commemorate the Time selection, Trump rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange, where he was joined by Kennedy, wife Melania, daughters Ivanka and Tiffany, Vice President-elect JD Vance and Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary.

The bell-ringing signifies the start of the trading day at the world’s largest stock exchange and is considered an honor. It has historically been reserved for company executives celebrating an initial public offering or other major corporate milestones, but celebrities and politicians like Ronald Reagan, Nelson Mandela and Arnold Schwarzenegger have also rung it.

Ending Russia-Ukraine war

In the interview, Trump also sharply criticized Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied missiles deep into Russian territory.

“It’s crazy what’s taking place. It’s crazy. I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done,” Trump said in an interview coinciding with him being named Time’s Person of the Year.

President Joe Biden last month lifted the U.S. ban on Ukraine using U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia, his latest attempt to boost Kyiv in its battle to repel a Russian invasion force from his country.

The decision came after pleas from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The White House cited Russia’s deployment of 15,000 North Korean troops along the battlefront as the main reason why Biden changed his mind.

Trump has said he would like to bring a quick end to the nearly three-year-old war. He told Time he had a “very good plan” to help but that if he reveals it now “it becomes almost a worthless plan”.

(with inputs from Reuters)