The Nonexistent Michigan 'Man of the Year' Award: A Fabricated Honor Trump Repeated More Than Twenty Times Despite No Evidence It Existed
Tier 3Documented2016-10-31 to 2024-10-10
Factual Summary
Donald Trump claimed on more than twenty occasions that he was named "Man of the Year" in Michigan. He made the claim at rallies, in interviews, and in public remarks spanning from at least 2016 through 2024. The claim was false. No evidence has ever been produced that Trump received any such award, and multiple independent investigations found nothing to substantiate it.
The Washington Post documented at least 20 instances of Trump making the claim during his first term alone. In a typical telling, Trump would say something to the effect of: "I was named Michigan Man of the Year, years ago, long before I thought about running for president." He never specified who gave the award, when the ceremony took place, or what organization was responsible.
FactCheck.org investigated the claim and found no evidence of a "Man of the Year" award from any Michigan organization. The state of Michigan does not give out such an award. Major Michigan newspapers, including the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, searched their archives and found no record of the award being given.
CNN and multiple other outlets investigated and reached the same conclusion: the award does not appear to exist.
The closest event that might explain the claim was identified by former Republican Congressman Dave Trott, who recalled inviting Trump to speak at a 2013 Lincoln Day dinner for the Oakland County Republican Party in Michigan. Trott stated that at the event, he gave Trump a framed copy of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and other gifts, but he did not give Trump any "Man of the Year" award. Trott told reporters he had no idea where Trump got the idea that he had been named "Man of the Year."
In October 2024, Trump attempted to substantiate the claim by citing an article that he said proved the award existed. The article in question, from a Michigan newspaper, reported that Trump had been honored at a 2023 Oakland County Republican dinner where he was called "Man of the Decade." The newspaper subsequently issued a correction, noting that the "Man of the Decade" designation was from 2023, not from the earlier period Trump repeatedly referenced, and that the Oakland County Republican Party had never given out a "Man of the Year" award prior to that. The correction further undermined Trump's claim by demonstrating that the honorary title was created in 2023, years after Trump had been claiming the award for nearly a decade.
Snopes rated the claim "Unproven," noting that despite extensive investigation, no evidence of the award had been found, and that the individuals most likely to have been involved in any such award denied its existence.
Primary Sources
1. Washington Post Fact Checker: documentation of Trump repeating the "Man of the Year" claim at least 20 times during his first term
2. FactCheck.org: "Trump's Dubious Michigan 'Man of the Year' Boast," August 2019
3. Dave Trott, former U.S. Representative (R-MI): on-the-record denial that any "Man of the Year" award was given at the 2013 Lincoln Day dinner
4. Michigan newspaper correction, October 2024: "Man of the Decade" title was from 2023, not a historical "Man of the Year" award
Corroborating Sources
1. CNN: "Fact check: Trump revives lie that he was long ago named Man of the Year in Michigan," June 2024
2. Newsweek: "Fact Check: Trump insists he was named 'Man of The Year' in Michigan," 2024
3. Detroit News: "Trump again attempts to prove he was named 'Man of the Year' in Michigan," October 2024
4. Snopes: "Did Trump Win Michigan's 'Man of the Year' Award?" (rated Unproven)
5. The Hill: "Michigan newspaper issues correction after Trump claims he won man of year award," 2024
6. Washington Post: "Trump touts article claiming he was 'man of the year.' It's incorrect," October 2024
Counterarguments and Context
It is possible that Trump received an informal or verbal acknowledgment at a Michigan event that he subsequently elevated in his memory to a formal award. Memory is imperfect, and public figures often conflate honorary recognitions with formal awards. Some of Trump's supporters have argued that the precise distinction between being "honored" at a dinner and being "named Man of the Year" is trivial and that the media's focus on it reflects bias. However, Trump did not describe the award as an informal honor. He repeatedly and specifically called it "Man of the Year," implied it came from a recognized Michigan organization, and cited it as evidence of his longstanding popularity in the state. The claim was not a single exaggeration corrected when challenged. It was repeated more than twenty times over a span of eight years, even after fact-checkers had thoroughly debunked it. The person most likely to have given such an award, Dave Trott, stated on the record that he did not. The organization Trump most likely attended, the Oakland County Republicans, confirmed it had no "Man of the Year" award before 2023. The claim is a documented fabrication that Trump continued to repeat despite comprehensive evidence that it was false.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the evidence is primary and documentary. The claim has been investigated by multiple independent organizations, all of which found no evidence to support it. The denial by the individual most closely connected to the event Trump likely references is on the record. The newspaper correction that undermined Trump's own attempt to prove the claim is part of the public record. The only remaining uncertainty is whether Trump believed the claim was true, a question about his state of mind that does not change the documented falsity of the assertion itself.