Like him or not, Trump has undeniably made his mark on 2024, attracting considerable attention. This visibility has earned him TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2024.
Person of the Year 2024
President-elect Donald Trump, who has endured a turbulent 2024 marked by several high-profile court cases, an extraordinary election campaign and an assassination attempt, has been named TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year 2024.
Repeatedly
After complaining several times in recent years about not receiving this title, which he felt he deserved, Trump is finally being honored this year.
The second time
This is the second time he’s earned this distinction, having already been named in 2016.
Several notable figures
This year, Trump was up for the title against several notable figures, including his 2024 election campaign rival Kamala Harris, as well as Princess of Wales Kate Middleton and billionaire Elon Musk, winner of the title in 2021.
Other candidates
Other candidates included Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Vladimir Putin rival Alexei Navalny, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, META CEO Mark Zuckerberg (incumbent in 2010), Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, animator Joe Rogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Decisively
Donald Trump unquestionably marked 2024 by decisively winning the presidential election against all odds. For the first time, he won a majority of the popular vote and swung all key states in favor of the Republicans.
The many controversies
A spectacular comeback, despite the many controversies surrounding him, including his defeat in the 2020 election to Joe Biden, the results of which he still refuses to acknowledge today.
The first convicted felon
In 2024, he was at the center of numerous court cases, becoming the first convicted felon to be elected president.
34 counts of fraud
A New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of fraud for falsifying business records to conceal a payment, made on the eve of the 2016 election, to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels, an adult star with whom he allegedly had an affair, while his wife, Melania Trump, was pregnant with their son Barron.
83.3 million
In January 2024, following a retrial, Trump was ordered to pay writer E. Jean Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages.
New defamatory statements
This decision follows further defamatory statements by Trump, having already been found guilty in 2023 of assault and defamation in a civil case, for which he was ordered to pay $5 million.
Presidential immunity
Donald Trump was also under investigation for alleged mismanagement of confidential documents after his presidency. A grand jury had indicted him on 40 criminal counts, but the case evolved when the Supreme Court granted him presidential immunity.
His official duties
Charges related to his official duties as president had to be reformulated, and with his election victory, the case was finally withdrawn by special prosecutor on the Jack Smith docket.
The target
In 2024, Donald Trump was the target of several assassination attempts, underscoring the extreme tensions surrounding his presidential bid and return to politics.
A political climate
Despite the high risks, these incidents have only strengthened his image among his supporters, illustrating a deeply polarized and unstable political climate.
Considerable attention
Whether we like him or not, Trump has undeniably made his mark on 2024, attracting considerable attention. As a result, he was named TIME’s Person of the Year 2024.
The year 2025
And as 2024 draws to a close, 2025 promises to be just as turbulent for Trump, as he prepares to return to the White House to begin his second term at the end of January. A deserved title, in your opinion?