Trump’s cronies rush to praise Time Person of the Year award – but others aren’t as sure

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President-elect Donald Trump was named Time’s “Person of the Year,” eliciting a wide range of reactions online.

The magazine previously honored Trump with the title in 2016, when he first was elected to the White House. Thursday’s announcement follows the magazine’s tradition — spanning nearly nine decades — of naming the president-elect the “Person of the Year.”

Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning, when he thanked Time for the honor just after bashing the media. “We had a great first term despite a lot of turmoil caused unnecessarily but the media’s tamed down a little bit,” he said. “They’re liking us much better now, I think. If not, we’ll have to take them on again and we don’t want to do that.”

The 78-year-old Republican defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, winning the popular vote by less than two percentage points, recent tallies show. The tightness of the race underscores America’s polarized politics.

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Reactions to Time’s announcement were no different. Some of Trump’s allies and social media users praised the decision.

“Well deserved!” the president-elect’s son Eric Trump wrote on X.

Brooke Rollins, Trump’s pick for secretary of agriculture, remarked: “It’s so incredible to be here with the incoming Cabinet at the iconic @NYSE exchange to celebrate @realDonaldTrump receiving his second @TIME ’s Person of the Year.” She added: “But he’s more—he’s the defining figure of this century.”

Laura Loomer expressed that the title didn’t go far enough, writing: “Person of the century!!”

Florida Republican Rep Anna Paulina Luna also chimed in: “Our President is TIME’s person of the year!!!! :)”

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Others took issue with the choice, pointing to his conviction in New York earlier this year. A jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to giving so-called hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election in exchange for silence about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006.

“We had better people but decided to go with the convicted felon? Time is a joke,” one X user wrote.

Another remarked: “What has he done to be person of the year? I didn’t know being a convicted felon was a part of the qualifications [shaking my head].”

“They’re naming Donald Trump the cover star for Time magazine, even though he’s a convicted criminal. It’s time to boycott,” yet another said.