'Time' Magazine names Donald Trump Person of the year, 2016

US President-elect Donald Trump has been named as the 2016 Person of the Year, by Time Magazine calling him the “president of the divided states of America” and citing the upheaval in American politics brought about by the election campaign and victory of the New York businessman.

At the announcement on Wednesday, Time noted Trump's eclectic career as real estate magnate and reality television star before winning the highest office in the land.

"It's hard to measure the scale of his disruption," Time said.

"For those who believe this is all for the better, Trump's victory represents a long-overdue rebuke to an entrenched and arrogant governing class," it said.

Trump beat other 10 finalist including Democrat Hillary Clinton, former winners Mark Zuckerberg and Vladimir Putin, first-time candidates the Flint water crisis whistleblowers and Beyoncé Knowles. and Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan.

Trump who was not happy with the title of the “president of the divided states of America” said his selection was "a tremendous honor" in an interview on the Today show.

According to Times, the title is awarded to "the 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."

Past winners include Pope Francis and Pope John Paul II, groundbreaking scientists and groups or archetypes such as "the protester" and "Ebola fighters."