Trump sets new record as Time's 'cover king'

President Donald Trump is adding another feather to his cap.

He is now Time Magazine's "cover king," appearing "more times than anyone else in the magazine's history," the White House said in an Oct. 1 post on X .

Trump's latest cover comes ahead of the midterm election and follows a whirlwind week "that included a speech before the U.N. General Assembly and hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his delegation at the White House," Time said. In his interview with Eric Cortellessa, the president discussed his administration's successes, White House renovations and the Iran war .

Here's more on Trump's latest feat.

Donald Trump's second term: Actions, travels of the 47th president

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President Donald Trump dances after speaking at a campaign rally to support Republican House of Representatives candidate Ed Gallrein andÊSenate candidate Andy Barr, at Truist Arena in Highland Heights, Ky. on Oct. 17, 2026.Ê (Kevin Lamarque, REUTERS)

How many times has Trump been on the cover of Time?

Time also confirmed the same, with Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs writing that the new cover "marks a milestone for this magazine and for the President."

"With 56 appearances, Trump has now been on the cover of TIME more often than any other individual, surpassing President Richard Nixon, who held the title for more than half a century, repeatedly breaking his own record as the Watergate scandal progressed," Jacobs wrote.

Trump first appeared on the cover of Time in 1989, according to the editorial, "when he appeared to personify that moment's collective aspiration for luxury." The cover has even hung above a urinal in a men's room at Mar-a-Lago, according to Time.

However, as much as Trump revels in being on the cover of Time, he is not always satisfied with the results, telling the magazine that "of the 55 previous covers, he has liked 17 of them."

He had even publicly criticized one of those covers − in October 2025 − writing on Truth Social: "Time Magazine wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the Worst of All Time. They 'disappeared' my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one."

"Really weird! I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a super bad picture, and deserves to be called out. What are they doing, and why?" Trump had said.

The cover for the November 2025 issue had featured a photo of Trump taken from low down with the sun, creating a halo effect where his hair blurs into the light . It had three titles: "His triumph," "The leader Israel needed" and "How Gaza heals."

Time Person of the Year

Over the years, Time's covers have captured "his improbable 2016 campaign and first election, his impeachments and legal battles, the disgrace of Jan. 6, his return to power, his foreign policy wins, and all that has come in between," the magazine said.

Trump was previously also recognized as Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2024 on the heels of his political comeback after two impeachments , four criminal indictments , losing the 2020 election, resulting in a riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

"Since he began running for president in 2015, perhaps no single individual has played a larger role in changing the course of politics and history than Trump," Jacobs had written at the time.

He also was named Person of the Year in 2016 after his shock election win over Hillary Clinton.

This story was updated to include more information.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@usatodayco.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump sets new record as Time's 'cover king'