Time names Donald Trump person of the year

Donald Trump is Timemagazine's person of the year.

SEE ALSO: Guess who's the only British person on Time's person of the year shortlist

Timedescribed him on its front cover as president of the "Divided States of America".

The president-elect was on a shortlist of 11 people that included, among others, runner-up Hillary Clinton, Beyoncé and Vladimir Putin. 

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Trump told NBC's Today show shortly after the announcement it was a "great honor" that "meant a lot" to him.

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"For nearly 17 months on the campaign trail, Trump did what no American politician had attempted in a generation, with defiant flair," Timewrote. "Instead of painting a bright vision for a unified future, he magnified the divisions of the present, inspiring new levels of anger and fear within his country."

"Whatever you think of the man, this much is undeniable: he uncovered an opportunity others didn’t believe existed, the last, greatest deal for a 21st century salesman."

The pick carries some irony considering last year, when the magazine selected Angela Merkel for the same award, Trump tweeted:

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“This is the 90th time we have named the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year," Editor-in-Chief Nancy Gibbs wrote in a story describing the decision.

"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."