President Trump and migrant families separated by his administration at the U.S. border are competing to be named Time’s Person of the Year.
Trump’s inclusion in the publication’s list of the top 10 most influential people in 2018 is his third in as many years. The addition of migrant families comes after his administration was criticized for splitting families who crossed the southern border between official ports of entry as part of his zero tolerance approach to illegal immigration.
Trump was named the magazine’s person of the year in 2016, and in 2017, the magazine gave the title to people in the #MeToo movement.
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“I can’t imagine anybody else other than Trump, can you imagine anybody other than Trump?” the president said last month when asked about the prospect of receiving the title again this year.
Other finalists include Russian President Vladimir Putin and special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating links between the 2016 Trump campaign and Moscow. Christine Blasey Ford, the research psychologist who went public with her sexual assault accusations against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh; and Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident journalist and U.S. resident allegedly killed by operatives connected to the Saudi royal family in Turkey, were also named on the shortlist. Both Kavanaugh and Saudi officials deny any wrongdoing.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, March For Our Lives gun reform activists, and “Black Panther” screenwriter and director Ryan Coogler are also on the list.
Time has announced a Person of the Year since 1927. Last year’s collective recipient of the title were the people who spoke up about sexual misconduct and harassment, sparking the #MeToo movement.
