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This is a positive article in a periodical that the president has consistently praised – with one exception. The front-page image, the president decreed, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time's tribute to the president's involvement in facilitating a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was paired with a image of Trump shot from a low angle and with the sun shining from the back.

The effect, Trump claims, is "super bad".

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the photo may be the lowest quality in history", Trump wrote on his preferred network.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had an object hovering on top of my head that appeared as a hovering tiara, but an extremely small one. Really weird! I always disliked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a super bad picture, and merits public condemnation. Why did they do this, and why?”

Trump has made clear his wish to appear on Time’s cover and accomplished it on four occasions in the previous year. The obsession has made it as far as the president's resorts – in 2017, the editors demanded to remove fake issues shown in several of his venues.

This issue's photograph was shot by a photographer for a news agency at the White House on 5 October.

The shot's viewpoint was unflattering to Trump’s chin and neck – an opening that California governor Gavin Newsom seized, with his communications team sharing an altered image with the criticized section pixelated.

{The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been freed under the opening part of Donald Trump's peace plan, in exchange for a Palestinian prisoner release. The deal may become a major success of the president's renewed tenure, and it may represent a key shift for the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a support for Trump's image has been offered by unusual quarters: the communications chief at the Russian foreign ministry came forward to condemn the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

"It’s astonishing: a image reveals far more about those who selected it than about the subject. Only disturbed individuals, people obsessed with malice and hatred –maybe even degenerates – could have selected such an image", Maria Zakharova posted on the messaging platform.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that the periodical displayed on the cover, even with his age-related challenges, the story is simply self-incriminating for the magazine", she added.

The response to Trump’s questions – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – might involve creatively capturing a impression of strength according to a picture editor, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The photograph technically is well-executed," she notes. "They chose this shot because they wanted trump to look impressive. Looking up at a person evokes a feeling of their importance and Trump’s face actually looks thoughtful and almost a bit ethereal. It's uncommon you see images of the president in such a peaceful state – the photo appears gentle."

Trump’s hair looks erased because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she explains. Although the feature's heading pairs nicely with Trump’s expression in the image, "you can’t always please the individual in question."

"No one likes being shot from underneath, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are quite powerful, the aesthetics are unflattering."

The news outlet reached out to the magazine for comment.