Following his victory over Kamala Harris in the November 5 US presidential election, US President-elect Donald Trump has been named Time magazine’s 2024 Person of the Year.
For the past 97 years, TIME has chosen the People of the Year who shaped the world for better or worse over the past 12 months.
Choosing a “person of the year” has been difficult for many years. But in 2024, the choice was easy for TIME.
By awarding President Trump this notable title, he seeks to emphasize his important role in changing the course of politics.
No one has played a bigger role in shaping politics and history than Trump since he began running for president in 2015, according to Time. After a surprising victory in the 2016 US elections, his term in office was disrupted by a year of pandemic and a period of nationwide protests. As a result, it lost the 2020 US election by a margin of 7 million votes.
The paper said that the current situation marks Trump’s “apotheosis” and that everyone, including his supporters and critics, is living in Trump’s era, with expectations rising for a second term in office.
He campaigned extensively in the 2024 US election from a New York courtroom where he was scheduled to be sentenced on 34 felony counts of false business records. Time reports that his only debate with Joe Biden in June ultimately led to his withdrawal from the presidential race.
Days after Biden withdrew from the race, Trump survived an assassination attempt on the campaign trail and ultimately won all seven battleground states, defeating Harris.
“What’s going on? Isn’t it strange?” Trump told his supporters after his victory.
According to Time, Mr. Trump has expanded the electorate and reshaped American politics by highlighting people’s concerns about rising prices and geopolitical issues. According to exit polls, he won the most black votes for a Republican candidate since Gerald Ford and the most Latino votes for a Republican candidate after George W. Bush.
After Trump’s victory, it is expected that members of Congress, international organizations, and world leaders will once again align themselves according to his interests. President Trump is poised to return to the White House with a specific agenda: tariffs on imports, deportation of millions of people, intimidation of the press, putting RFK Jr. in charge of vaccines, and a war of opportunity with Iran. “Anything can happen,” Trump told Time magazine.
