Donald Trump is Time's Person of the Year: A look back at other times he made the mag's cover

Time magazine on Wednesday named Donald Trump its Person of the Year, bestowing what the president-elect called an “honour” even as he derided the idea that he’ll lead “the Divided States of America.” That was a reference to Time‘s cover line — “Donald Trump: President of the Divided States of America” — that was positioned next to the cover photograph of the president-elect sitting in his private residence at Trump Tower.

“I didn’t divide ’em,” Trump said on NBC’s Today show. “We’re going to put it back together and we’re going to have a country that’s very well-healed.” The president-elect welcomed the accolade as a “very, very great honor,” denying he was responsible for divisions and praising outgoing President Barack Obama. Just last year, when Angela Merkel was picked as the magazine’s Person of the Year, Trump had said that Time would never pick him despite being the “big favorite”. He had also referred to Merkel as someone who is “ruining Germany”.

But following the announcement by Time this year, Trump seems to have changed his views towards the “very important” magazine.

Time editor Nancy Gibbs said the publication’s choice was a “straightforward” choice of the person who has had the greatest influence on events “for better or worse.” Trump climbed from fiery underdog in the race for the GOP presidential nomination to winning the White House and defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 8 November election. Trump won 306 electoral votes, easily enough to make him president when the electors meet on 19 December. Clinton won the popular vote. He won in part by articulating in blunt, populist terms the racial, economic and other factors that divide Americans, many of whom have not felt the nation’s recovery from recession. Trump stomped campaign traditions and social norms, including by insulting women, Muslims, Republican leaders, a reporter with disabilities and more. He also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and last week irritated China and broke diplomatic norms by speaking by phone with the leader of Taiwan. “When have we ever seen a single individual who has so defied expectations, broken the rules, violated norms, beaten not one but two political parties on the way to winning an election that he entered with 100-to-1 odds against him?” Gibbs said. Clinton was the No 2 finalist, Gibbs said. She said Clinton “came closer than any woman ever has to winning the White House, and in the process revealed, I think, both the opportunities and the obstacles that women face in the public square.” “The Hackers,” ranked after Clinton. Gibbs said that referred to “a new cyber security threat we saw this year of state-sponsored hackers looking to delegitimise an American election.” She said this was “something new this year and something very disturbing.” But this is hardly the first time Trump has been featured on the cover of the magazine. This is the ninth time he has been featured on the cover since 2015. He was featured on the August 2015 edition with the caption “Deal With It”.

In January 2016 edition with the caption/story “How Trump Won: Now he just needs the votes”

In March 2016 with the caption/story “On the plane with Donald Trump”. This cover featured a checklist over his face.

In July 2016 with the caption/story “Gut Check: For Donald Trump, intuition beats experience. What that would mean for the US presidency”

August 2016 edition of the magazine featured an illustration of Donald Trump’s face melting, with the caption/story “Meltdown”.

The October 2016 cover featured the same illustration of Trump’s face from the August issue, but now melted farther into a puddle, and the caption changed to “Total Meltdown”.

The 14 November 2016 issue of the magazine featured Trump and Clinton holding a sign that reads “The End is Near”.

The 21 November, 2016 issue of the magazine featured Trump and Mike Pence during Trump’s victory speech after winning the presidential election. A look at all the covers sure provides one with a visual timeline since the time Trump declared he will run for president and to the time he actually got elected, and then some. Since the release of the latest issue on Wednesday, many people on social media have commented on the latest cover, often pointing out at the “hidden” meaning behind the design and calling Time’s “hypocrisy”.

And then there is this,

It is difficult to judge if Time was “right” in naming Trump the Person of the Year. The magazine has always maintained that the featured person is chosen on the basis of his/her influence over the year — for better or worse. But one thing we are sure of is that Trump sure takes it as a compliment rather than a condemnation. With inputs from agencies