Donald Trump is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. He beat out the Princess of Wales, Elon Musk, Kamala Harris and Joe Rogan for the title. It honestly would have been bizarre if Kate was POTY given everything else. I’m sure the fact that Kate would have refused an interview was a factor as well! As for the cover… it looks like Trump got a fresh wig, and it’s weird that they shot the photo from below, given Trump’s waddle and double chin (which were photoshopped on the cover). I have very little tolerance for any of this sh-t at this point, but if you want to read his POTY interview, you can see it here. Here’s a short excerpt:
Trump has a ready explanation for his improbable [political] resurrection. He even has a name for its climactic final act. “I called it 72 Days of Fury,” he says as the interview gets under way. “We hit the nerve of the country. The country was angry.” It wasn’t just the MAGA faithful. Trump harnessed deep national discontent about the economy, immigration, and cultural issues. His grievances resonated with suburban moms and retirees, Latino and Black men, young voters and tech edgelords. While Democrats estimated that most of the country wanted a President who would uphold the norms of liberal democracy, Trump saw a nation ready to smash them, tapping into a growing sense that the system was rigged.
If America was craving change, it is about to see how much Trump can deliver. He ran on a strongman vision, proposing to deport migrants by the millions, dismantle parts of the federal government, seek revenge against his political adversaries, and dismantle institutions that millions of people see as censorious and corrupt. “He understands the cultural zeitgeists,” says his 2016 campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, who remains a close adviser. “Donald Trump is a complicated person with simple ideas, and way too many politicians are the exact opposite.”
Trump also promises to attack the sources abroad that he blames for the country’s malaise: economic interdependence, transnational criminals, traditional allies he sees as free riders on America’s long-running global beneficence. He believes he has tools to fight back: punitive tariffs, bare-knuckle negotiations, and threats to withdraw U.S. military, humanitarian, and economic support. Willing to upend the nation’s postwar role as a bulwark against authoritarianism, he promises to usher in a foreign policy rooted in “America First” transactionalism.
Yeah, it’s going to be a real sh-tshow. The American Experiment is over, not with a bang but a whimper. I hope everyone who voted for the Leopards-Eating-Faces Party gets everything they voted for. Beyond that, I hope all of the sensible people out there can find ways to protect themselves and the people they love.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, cover courtesy of Time.
