TIME: Trump Is 'Incorrect' About How Person Of The Year Is Chosen

President Donald Trump on Friday tweeted that TIME Magazine called him to say he was "probably" going to be named their "Man (Person) of the Year," but he turned it down because he would have to sit down for a photo shoot and an interview.

In a tweet, the magazine said the president is incorrect about how they choose "Person of the Year," and that TIME does not comment on the choice until publication. While TIME said the president is "incorrect," they did not address whether the president was also wrong about the publication having called him for an interview or photo shoot.

The magazine's "Man (Person) of the Year," or as it's been called since 1999, "Person of the Year," will be revealed on Dec. 6. Trump was given the designation for 2016 after he won the presidential election over Hillary Clinton, an outcome that very few people actually thought possible. The person TIME picks is someone who has had the greatest influence on the year's events, "for better or for worse."

And Trump has a long history with the magazine and a fixation on its "Person of the Year" title.

After Trump's Tweet on Friday, many noted his old tweets on the topic, including one from Dec. 2015 in which he wrote "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" In another tweet from the same day he thanked Bill O'Reilly for an editorial he wrote arguing why Trump should have been the person of the year.

"I knew last year that @TIME Magazine lost all credibility when they didn't include me in their Top 100...," he tweeted in 2012.

And in 2011, Trump said the magazine was biased for naming "The Protester" its person of the year. "The Protester" was a reference to the waves of uprisings to authoritarianism seen across the Middle East that became known as the Arab Spring.

And then there is the fake TIME magazine with Trump on the cover that The Washington Post found was framed and mounted in at least five of Trump's golf clubs.

While Trump has complained about the magazine, he has also been pleased with it. In 2015, when was featured on the August cover, he tweeted that it was a "great honor."

The fake cover and the delight at being featured on a real cover of TIME show that the magazine's portrayal of him does indeed matter to Trump.

The magazine's selection process is highly secretive and only a handful of employees know the final decision before the announcement is made, according to TIME. Employees pitch candidates and the magazine also listens intently to its "Person of the Year" poll where readers are asked to vote for candidates in a public poll.

So it seems very few people are actually clued in to who will be named TIME person of the year. And if the reader's choice poll is any indication, Mohammad bin Salman who was named the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia after Muhammad bin Nayef was relieved of all duties, is currently leading the poll. Following in second is #MeToo, the movement started in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal of women speaking out against sexual assault and harassment.

Watch: Trump Says He "Declined" Person of the Year

Photo by Alex Brandon,File/Associated Press