Trump Says He Passed On Being 'Person Of The Year.' 'Time' Says He's 'Incorrect' 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images 
 
 President Trump took to Twitter Friday afternoon to say he passed on possibly being Time's Person of the Year because he didn't want to agree to an interview and photo shoot. 
 
 The magazine tweeted a few hours later that that wasn't the case: 
 
 Trump was named Time's Person of the Year last year, which he called a "tremendous honor" at the time. 
 
 The yearly title isn't necessarily a mark of praise but rather an acknowledgment of influence. "[T]he person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse," a former managing editor of the magazine wrote. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin have both been featured in the role. 
 
 The magazine started naming a "Man of the Year" during a slow news week in 1928, it says. The title became "Person of the Year" in 1999, though socialite Wallis Simpson was a "Woman of the Year" in 1937. 
 
 In June, The Washington Post noted that fake covers of Time magazine featuring Trump hang in at least four of his golf clubs. 
 
 The Person of the Year will be announced Dec. 6. ||||| Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter 
 
 / Updated / Source: TODAY By Eun Kyung Kim 
 
 President-elect Donald Trump, the real estate businessman and political novice whose election campaign made the entire world take notice, has been selected as TIME’s 2016 Person of the Year. 
 
 The magazine revealed its choice Wednesday on TODAY. 
 
 "To be on the cover of Time as Person of the Year is a tremendous honor," Trump told Matt Lauer in an interview after the reveal. 
 
 The president-elect did however take issue with the magazine's choice to refer to him as "President of the Divided States of America." 
 
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 "When you say 'divided states of America,' I didn’t divide them," Trump said. "They’re divided now, there’s a lot of division. And we’re going to put it back together." 
 
 President-elect Donald Trump is TIME's Person of the Year for 2016 Nadav Kander / TIME 
 
 Every year, TIME editors select the person — or idea — who has most influenced the news and the world in the past year, for good or ill. 
 
 "So which is it this year: Better or worse? The challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer," TIME managing editor Nancy Gibbs wrote in a magazine essay. 
 
 Trump beat out 10 other finalists, including his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. TIME declared Clinton their runner-up, and she was also the top pick among TODAY viewers. 
 
 The president-elect, shown in his private living room in Trump Tower. Nadav Kander / TIME 
 
 This will be Trump’s 10th time on the magazine’s cover, and all but one have been since August 2015. His first appearance on TIME was in 1989. 
 
 Donald Trump on the cover of TIME in 1989, 2015, and 2016. Trump has appeared on the magazine's cover 10 times. Hewlett-Packard / TIME 
 
 "For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow’s political culture by demolishing yesterday’s, Donald Trump is TIME’s 2016 Person of the Year," Gibbs wrote. 
 
 Last year’s recipient was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Trump was a runner-up. The year before that, 2014, the Person of the Year were the Ebola fighters. 
 
 The magazine has made the designation every year since 1927, when aviator Charles Lindbergh was chosen as the first Man of the Year. The title was amended to Person of the Year in 1999. 
 
 MORE: TIME's Person of the Year 2015 is German Chancellor Angela Merkel 
 
 Over its history, TIME has bestowed the title to many presidents, political leaders and industry trailblazers who often view the designation as an honor. However, the magazine also has selected notorious recipients in the past, including Adolf Hitler in 1938, Joseph Stalin in 1939 and 1942, and Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, because of the impact they had on the world at the time. ||||| Time magazine has asked the Trump Organization to remove copies of a fake cover of President Trump Donald John TrumpFlynn to campaign for Montana GOP Senate candidate Trump considering pardon for boxing legend after call from Sylvester Stallone Decline in EPA enforcement won't keep climate bill from coming MORE that were on display at the company’s golf clubs, The Washington Post reported Tuesday afternoon. 
 
 The request came after the newspaper reported that at least four Trump-branded golf clubs had displayed a fake Time magazine cover that depicted Trump with the headline “Donald Trump: The ‘Apprentice’ is a television smash!” 
 
 The cover, dated March 1, 2009, was never published by the magazine at any point, a spokeswoman for Time confirmed. 
 
 “I can confirm that this is not a real TIME cover,” Kerri Chyka wrote to the Post in an email. 
 
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 The fake cover was reportedly hanging in at least two of Trump's golf clubs in the U.S. 
 
 Another one was reportedly displayed at Trump's resort in Ireland, but was recently moved from a restaurant area to a manager's office. 
 
 A cover that had also been displayed at the Trump’s Turnberry club in Scotland was removed a few weeks ago without explanation, the Post reported. 
 
 The fake cover was reportedly interspersed with real magazine covers in at least at one location. 
 
 Trump has previously touted his appearances on the cover of the magazine. 
 
 "I think I was on the cover of Time magazine twice in my life and like six times in the last number of months," Trump said in July 2016. 
 
 "So you tell me which is more important, real estate or politics, OK? I have six for politics and I have two for real estate or whatever they put me on for." 
 
 The Post noted that Trump had actually only been featured on the magazine's cover once before entering politics, in January 1989, when he was known as a New York business mogul.
– President Trump says he turned down an interview and photo shoot for Time magazine's "Person of the Year" issue, the AP reports. In a Friday evening tweet, Trump says the magazine informed him he was "probably" going to be granted the title for the second year in a row but that it would require "an interview and a major photo shoot." He tweets: "I said probably is no good and took a pass." The magazine, however, is now disputing Trump's version of events. "The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year," said a magazine tweet. Time "does not comment on our choice until publication." As NPR notes, the selection isn't necessarily a positive honor; rather, it's more a reflection of a person's influence. Trump seems to revel in the magazine's recognition: Earlier this year, it was revealed that several of his private golf clubs were displaying fake Time covers featuring his image. This year, the new Person of the Year will be announced on Dec. 6.