Donald Trump once publicly speculated that it would never be called “Person of the Year» of the news magazine Time.

Now, he will be honored twice, according to CNN.

Time will on Thursday select Trump as this year’s Person of the Year, recognizing the president-elect as the person or group deemed to have had the most influence on world affairs “for better or for worse.” To celebrate the unveiling of the magazine cover, Trump will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, a source told CNN. Trump participated in a wide-ranging interview with the magazine last month.

Trump’s choice for 2024 reflects that his first recognition in 2016when Time named him Person of the Year after his unexpected rise to the presidency. This time, the revelation caps a remarkable comeback and a resurgence that has the potential to upend modern American politics.

Despite the magazine’s declining circulation, Time’s Person of the Year remains annual cultural stone and the distinction has become an obsession for Trump over the years. A Time cover that named him Person of the Year in 2009 hung on many of his golf clubs, the Washington Post reported nearly a decade later, though no such issue was ever printed.

Through his Twitter account, Trump reinforced accounts suggesting he should be Person of the Year. He criticized the magazine in 2011 for choosing “The Protester” in a nod to the revolutions breaking out across the Arab world and the Occupy movement in the US. A year later, he said that Time had “lose all credibility” because it failed to include him in the 100 most influential people of the year. Trump has also privately protested the choices, most notably when Taylor Swift won in 2023. Trump has often focused on the pop star’s power and posted on social media: “I hate Taylor Swift” earlier this year. year after she said she would vote for Kamala Harris.

Over time, the title became symbol of dominant fame and the respect Trump sought but seemed out of reach. In 2015, when the magazine named then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel its Person of the Year, she tweeted, “Slet’s just say @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year even though I was the big favorite“, before adding: “They chose a person who is destroying Germany».

Even after Time named Trump its 2016 Person of the Year — which it called “a huge honor” on social media — it continued to closely monitor the results. The following year, Trump claimed he was again on the shortlist for the honor, but would not agree to an interview and photo shoot. Time disputed his version of events.

Despite his regular criticism of the media, Trump has regularly granted access to legacy magazines – including Time. He sat down for an extended interview in April of this year with the magazine at his club in Palm Beach. Harris turned down a similar opportunity, the magazine owner said in October.

Over the decades, the title has been awarded to a wide range of figures, from heads of state and activists to businessmen and, in some cases, brutal authoritarian leaders. Every US president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, except Gerald Ford, has been named Person of the Year at least once. President Joe Biden and Harris were co-winners after defeating Trump in 2020.

Members of Trump’s family are expected to attend Thursday’s event, including Ivanka Trump, according to a source familiar with the planning. It marks a rare public appearance for the president-elect’s daughter, who served as a senior adviser during his first term.