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Trump And His Closest Advisors Made The 'TIME' 100 List

by Natasha Guzmán
Mario Tama/Getty Images News/Getty Images

On Thursday, Time magazine released its annual 100 Most Influential People list, and, per usual, it included some of the most powerful people in the world. Unsurprisingly, several people associated with President Trump were on the Time 100 Most Influential People lineup — including the president himself, his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. House Speaker Paul Ryan wrote Trump's profile, praising him for always finding a way to "get things done" and "completely [rewriting] the rules of politics" after winning the election.

While Ryan and Trump have had a mostly cooperative relationship since last November, the two had a tumultuous rapport during the campaign. Ryan's reluctant support for Trump as a candidate, combined with his public disapproval for Trump's scandals and statements, usually led to retaliatory tweet storms or refusals to give endorsements.

Ryan did acknowledge their past disagreements in the Time profile, though. "When so many, including me at times, didn't see how he could pull it off, Donald Trump won a historic victory," he wrote.

Funnily enough, Trump criticized the Time list in 2013. "The Time Magazine list of the 100 Most Influential People is a joke and stunt of a magazine that will, like Newsweek, soon be dead," he tweeted.

Ivanka Trump, who was placed in the Pioneers category of the list, was praised for her work as an entrepreneur and women's advocate in a profile by Wendi Murdoch. "She has long advocated to empower women and girls and is now leading education initiatives and working to put an end to human trafficking," wrote Murdoch.

The short piece ends with the insistence that now "women and girls around the globe can look up to [Ivanka] too." The first daughter has been touted as a feminist figure by the Trump team, but her attempts to promote women's empowerment while covering for her father's anti-women policies haven't exactly been embraced by feminist circles.

Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, was also listed as a Pioneer. "Transitioning the presidency between parties is one of the most complex undertakings in American politics," Henry Kissinger wrote in his profile. "As part of the Trump family, Jared is familiar with the intangibles of the President. As a graduate of Harvard and NYU, he has a broad education; as a businessman, a knowledge of administration. All this should help him make a success of his daunting role flying close to the sun."

Steve Bannon — whose days in the Trump administration are reportedly numbered, thanks to an alleged feud with Kushner — was categorized as a Leader in the list. "Stephen Bannon may no longer function as the 45th President’s chief strategist, but no one else had as much influence on Donald Trump’s general-election campaign and first two months in office," wrote Time editor Michael Duffy. Bannon's power in the White House was frequently theorized to be even greater than Trump's in the media, earning him the nickname "President Bannon." (Saturday Night Live spoofed this rumored dynamic more than once.) Whether Bannon will be able to stay on Trump's team despite the alleged drama behind the scenes remains to be seen.

Some other names not directly part of the Trump family or administration, but who had arguable influence on Election Day's surprise results also appeared on the list. These names include FBI Director James Comey — whose last-minute disclosure about new Hillary Clinton emails under investigation is widely considered to have damaged her chances of winning — and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose site leaked thousands of emails from within the DNC and the Clinton campaign during the election.

All things considered, the president and his family are likely to view this year's list more favorably than those in the past.