--- title: Morning Must Reads: December 9 description: Morning Must Reads: December 9 canonical: https://time.com/4142458/angela-merkel-beats-trump-for-person-of-the-year/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-09T13:39:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:13:33.745Z article:section: Politics og:title: Morning Must Reads: December 9 og:description: Morning Must Reads: December 9 og:url: https://time.com/4142458/angela-merkel-beats-trump-for-person-of-the-year/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Morning Must Reads: December 9 twitter:description: Morning Must Reads: December 9 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Angela Merkel Beats Trump for Person of the Year > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 9, 2015 1:39 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 9, 2015 1:39 PM UTC **Donald Trump** has been named a runner-up on TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year list, losing out to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. But he is the only American political figure on the list–a testament to his surprise influence on American politics this year. TIME’s Michael Scherer profiles Trump for the issue, putting him in the same category as Huey Long, Joseph McCarthy, and George Wallace. “Each terrified some and delighted others, testing the nation’s very identity,” he writes. The fallout from Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States entered its second day, sending candidates off-message as they were force to contend with his comments. All of the GOP candidates have pledged to support the eventual nominee—meaning, possibly Trump—but many found themselves trying to squirm out of the pledge Tuesday. **Jeb Bush** maintained he would support the nominee, but that it wouldn’t be Trump, an evasion embraced by many of his colleagues. Others, including **Ted Cruz** and **Rand Paul** said outright they’d back Trump, as they hope to appeal to his supporters. Another runner-up on the Person of the Year list: The Black Lives Matter movement, which TIME’s Alex Altman writes has moved from a collection of protests to a burgeoning political movement Joe Biden faces questions over his son’s work for a Ukrainian company. **Marco Rubio** undercuts the Affordable Care Act. And Trump plans a trip to Israel. Here are your must-reads: **Must Reads** [Person of the Year Runner-Up: Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-runner-up-donald-trump/) TIME’s Michael Scherer on Trump’s influence [Donald Trump Talks Immigration, Terrorism and Campaign’s Future](http://time.com/4140698/donald-trump-interview/) ‘If I don’t win, for me, it will have been a total waste of time,’ he tells TIME’s Michael Scherer [House Approves Tighter Controls on Traveling to the U.S.](http://time.com/4141274/congress-us-travel-bill/) The legislation takes aim at visa-free travels allowed for 38 countries around the world \[Associated Press\] [Donald Trump’s Problem With Polls](http://time.com/4140934/donald-trump-muslims-polls/) Anything with a percentage sign after it is gospel for him, TIME’s Philip Elliott writes [Person of the Year: Black Lives Matter](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-runner-up-black-lives-matter/) A new civil rights movement turns a protest cry into political force, TIME’s Alex Altman writes [Marco Rubio Quietly Undermines Affordable Care Act](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/us/politics/marco-rubio-obamacare-affordable-care-act.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&%5Fr=1&referer=) Rubio campaigns on tripping up the White House \[New York Times\] **Sound Off** “What we need to see is a definitive statement from every candidate for the presidency about whether or not Mr. Trump is somebody they should vote for. I think their statements about this pledge they have taken to support Mr. Trump will speak volumes, as will the silence.” —White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Donald Trump’s comments on Muslim. “I’m going to support whoever the Republican nominee is and I’m going to stand up for what I believe in as I do that.” —Speaker of the House Paul Ryan asked if he would support Donald Trump if he wins the GOP nomination **Bits and Bites** [Trump Says He Is Visiting Israel But No One Is Prepared To Meet Him](http://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/trump-says-he-is-visiting-israel-but-no-one-is-prepared-to-m#.rtKW7akNz) \[BuzzFeed\] [Kasich to present plan to ‘defeat the terrorist threat’](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/12/09/kasich-to-present-plan-to-defeat-the-terrorist-threat/) \[Washington Post\] [Hillary Clinton Blasts Donald Trump’s Comments on Muslims](http://time.com/4141599/hillary-clinton-trump-muslims/) \[TIME\] [Ted Cruz Proposes Law That Would Allow Governors to Block Refugees](http://time.com/4140502/ted-cruz-syrian-refugees-isis/) \[TIME\] [Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban Rallies Religious Leaders Against Him](http://time.com/4140670/trump-religious-leaders/) \[TIME\] [Joe Biden, His Son and the Case Against a Ukrainian Oligarch](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/europe/corruption-ukraine-joe-biden-son-hunter-biden-ties.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&referer=&%5Fr=1) \[New York Times\] [White House Says Trump’s Muslim Ban ‘Disqualifies Him From Serving as President’](http://time.com/4140922/donald-trump-muslims-white-house-president/) \[TIME\] [Inside The Sad, Strange Family Feud That Helped Sink Rand Paul](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/inside-the-sad-strange-family-feud-that-helped-sink-rand-pau?utm%5Fterm=.tf8Dry2Le#.byADe6G5N) \[BuzzFeed\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4142458/angela-merkel-beats-trump-for-person-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4142458/angela-merkel-beats-trump-for-person-of-the-year/"},"headline":"Angela Merkel Beats Trump for Person of the Year","datePublished":"2015-12-09T13:39:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:13:33.745Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: December 9","url":"https://time.com/4142458/angela-merkel-beats-trump-for-person-of-the-year/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4142458/angela-merkel-beats-trump-for-person-of-the-year/","name":"Angela Merkel Beats Trump for Person of the Year"}}]}] ```