David M Jackson

USA TODAY

Donald Trump didn't protest Time's Person of the Year award this year.

The magazine named the president-elect the year's most significant person a year after passing him over for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, drawing complaints from the then-candidate.

Accepting what he called the "great honor" on NBC's Today show, Trump said he will wait a few more days to make his own announcement: His choice for secretary of State.

“Next week will be the time I announce it,” Trump said.

In bestowing the honor, Time magazine said Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election has shaken up the U.S. political system, for better or worse.

"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; for those who see it as for the worse, the destruction extends to cherished norms of civility and discourse, a politics poisoned by vile streams of racism, sexism, nativism," the magazine said.

Time added: "To his believers, he delivers change — broad, deep, historic change, not modest measures doled out in Dixie cups; to his detractors, he inspires fear both for what he may do and what may be done in his name."

Runner-up for Time's Person of the Year: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who narrowly lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump.

In his phone interview with NBC's Today show, Trump said the nation was divided when he began his presidential campaign in 2015, and he will bring it together as president.

Trump also said that he asks predecessor President Obama for his views on some of his prospective appointments, telling NBC that "I have asked him what he would think of this one and that one."

Trump also said that one of his critics — 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney — remains a contender for the secretary of State position.

"It's not about revenge," Trump told NBC. "It's about what's good for the country. And I'm able to put this stuff behind us."

The Person of the Year designation is the 10th time that Time magazine has put Trump on its cover, a list dating back to 1989.

When Time tapped Merkel for the honor last year, Trump tweeted: "I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany."

TIME Person of the Year for 2016 is President-elect Donald Trump