Time names Trump its 2016 'Person of the Year'

Time magazine on Wednesday named Donald Trump its "Person of the Year" for 2016 for his stunning upset victory in the US election, saying he had redrawn America's political rules.

The Republican president-elect dialled into NBC television's Today show, welcoming the accolade as a "very, very great honour." "To be on the cover of Time as Person of the Year is a tremendous honour," 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." "I think putting 'divided' is snarky," Trump said. "I didn’t do anything to divide."

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.