Time magazine has named Donald Trump its Person of the Year for the second time, adding him to a title he first received after winning the presidency in 2016. BBC News reported that the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Sam Jacobs, credited Trump with a comeback of historic proportions and a political realignment that reshaped the American presidency and changed the US role in the world.

The announcement came as Trump, now the president-elect, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange with several family members present and chants of “U-S-A” in the background. The appearance turned the magazine honour into a public celebration of his return to national power, and it also gave Trump a chance to repeat some of his plans for a second term.

According to BBC News, Trump said he would look case-by-case at the convictions of people who took part in the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, reversing the idea of a blanket pardon that he had previously floated. He also promised an economy unlike anything the country has seen and said he would cut taxes very substantially. Those remarks framed the Time recognition as more than symbolic; they were a snapshot of the agenda he was preparing to bring back to Washington.

Time’s own tradition stretches back to 1927, when the award was known as Man of the Year. It is intended to recognise a person or movement that has done the most to influence the year for better or worse. The award has gone to a broad mix of political leaders, cultural figures and movements over the decades, including Barack Obama, Greta Thunberg, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Pope Francis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

BBC News reported that Time considered 10 people for the 2024 award. Among those on the short list were Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Princess of Wales and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has become closely aligned with Trump and is set to lead an advisory board called the Department of Government Efficiency. Time’s description of Trump on the shortlist emphasised his decisive election victory and what it called a stunning political comeback.

The magazine also pointed to the scale of Trump’s electoral return. BBC News reported that Time said he won the 2024 election in a way that turned every swing state red and marked the first time he won the popular vote. The magazine also noted that Trump would become the oldest president in US history and the first convicted felon elected president, after a New York jury found him guilty earlier this year on 34 counts of fraud.

Trump’s relationship with Time has long been unusually visible. He complained in 2015 when he was not chosen during his first run for office, and later described the award as a great honour after winning it in 2016. BBC News reported that he has also continued to criticise some of the magazine’s later selections, including its choice of Taylor Swift as Person of the Year in 2023.

This year’s selection reflects both Trump’s political durability and the magazine’s preference for measuring influence rather than approval. Whether admired or opposed, he is once again the central figure in the political story Time chose to highlight, and the magazine has used the title to frame the scale of his comeback rather than merely endorse it.