TRUMP, TIME MAGAZINE TRADE BARBS
US PREZ TWEETS HE ‘OPTED OUT’ OF MAN OF THE YEAR
WASHINGTON/WEST PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump says he’s not playing ball with Time magazine as it decides its Person of the Year. The magazine counters that Trump has it all wrong.
In a tweet on Friday, as he spent the American holiday of Thanksgiving in Florida, Trump sounded dismissive of the honour he received last year and could well receive again.
He tweeted: “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 retorted with a tweet of its own disputing Trump’s account: “The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.”
At the time of Trump’s tweet, an online readers poll on whom the magazine should select showed Trump in a three-way tie for second and trailing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who had 21% of the vote. The recipient of the title, who is decided by Time’s editors, will be announced on December 6.
Trump frequently brags about appearing on the cover of the iconic magazine. He has falsely claimed to hold the record for cover appearances.
Time’s Person of the Year is defined by the weekly as “a person (or people) who has had the most influence over the news in the last 12 months.” The accolade has gone to a wide variety of people — even Adolf Hitler, in 1938, and Joseph Stalin, in 1939 and 1942.