No one has been more talked about in 2016 than Donald Trump.
From the moment he announced his candidacy for President of the United States, everyone – the public and the media – had their eyes trained on Trump. No one thought he could cut it on the campaign trail, but he did. No one thought he could win the Republican nomination, but he did. No one thought he could beat Hillary Clinton to the White House, but he did.
No one thought Donald Trump would be anything other than a comedy footnote to this annus horribilis, but now, as TIME’s Person of the Year, he will be the defining face of 2016.
“It’s a great honour. It means a lot,” President-elect Trump said in a post-reveal interview. “It’s a very important magazine and I’ve been lucky enough to be on the cover many times this year.”
Hillary Clinton came in second place, followed by ‘The Hackers’, representing the groups and individuals that broke into computer systems and subsequently into the newsrooms. Nigel Farage had been touted as a contender for Person of the Year, but he was nowhere to be seen on the runners-up list.
To be TIME’s Person of the Year is not to be declared the ‘best’ person of the year – both Hitler and Stalin have been named Person of the Year in the past. It’s about global presence and influence, and there is no doubt that, for better or worse, no one has been more globally present and influential than Donald Trump.
Photo: TIME
You can read the full TIME profile of Donald Trump here.
