Time waits for no man. Though one man waits for no Time. At least, that’s President Trump’s preemptive justification for not winning Time’s “Person of the Year” award this year.
Early Friday evening, as many American families were settling into the holiday weekend, the president of the United States was still hard at work, issuing public statements through his unofficial press office, Twitter.com. He already had appraised the situation in Egypt; announced his plans to golf with Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson; and (of course) complained (again) about “disrespect[ful]” NFL players and the lilly-livered team owners who fail to bend the players to Trump’s will.
But before closing up shop for the night, the president announced that he wouldn’t be Time’s Person of the Year this year—but that it was his decision, not Time’s:
“Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!”
Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017
As with many of his tweets, President Trump made the best possible use of his newly expanded 280-character allotment, by accomplishing several objectives:
(1) He reminded us that he was Time’s Person of the Year last year;
(2) He asserted that he was “PROBABLY” in line to win it again this year;
(3) He preempted the public shock of an eventual loss—however implausible a loss might seem to his supporters—by declaring that he turned down the offer because he couldn’t be bothered to sit for a photoshoot and interview. And clearly he is very busy; presidential statements don’t tweet themselves.
By now, Time has issued its own statement in response (by Twitter, of course), suggesting that the president might be wrong in his account of the facts.
But what’s more interesting is the fact that the president’s obsession with Time’s annual award seems to be something of a tradition. For several years, Donald Trump has reliably tweeted complaints about not winning Time’s Person of the Year. (I tweeted a screenshot recalling his old tweets, finding it all rather amusing.) It’s like clockwork:
He gets worked up over Time Magazine’s Man of the Year Award almost every year. Like clockwork. pic.twitter.com/27TnDTguAD
— Adam White (@adamjwhitedc) November 24, 2017
Last year, of course, he was in a more festive mood: he won not only the presidency but also Time’s Person of the Year honor, and he took care to tweet a note of thanks: ‘Thank you to Time Magazine and Financial Times for naming me ‘Person of the Year’—a great honor!”
In 2015, however, he was much less merry: “I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked [sic] person who is ruining Germany.” (In case it’s not obvious, Time picked Angela Merkel.) But Trump thanked Bill O’Reilly for sharing his disappointment: “Thank you @oreillyfactor for your wonderful editorial as to why I should have been @TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year. You should run Time!”
In 2014, Trump retweeted someone who wrote, “@realDonaldTrump I think Time Magazine should pick you as Person of the Year. We need you in 2016.” Time decided instead to honor everyone who fought to stop the Ebola virus in Africa.
In 2013, Trump took the year off, perhaps out of deference to the winner, Pope Francis. But in October 2012, weeks before Time honored the (then) president of the United States, Trump offered some reflections on Time’s merits: “I knew last year that @TIME Magazine lost all credibility when they didn’t include me in their Top 100 . . .”
President Trump shouldn’t fret; he’ll be on many more Time covers. He may even win Person of Year again. Win or lose, he’ll surely let us know.
