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This is a positive article in a magazine that Trump has long exalted – with one exception. The front-page image, Trump declared, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time's paean to the president's involvement in mediating a truce for Gaza, featured on its November 10 cover, was presented alongside a photo of Trump shot from a low angle and with the sun behind his head.

The result, the president asserts, is ""terrible".

"The publication wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the picture may be the most awful ever", the president posted on his social media platform.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a hovering tiara, but an very tiny one. Quite bizarre! I never liked taking pictures from below viewpoints, but this is a terrible picture, and deserves to be called out. Why did they do this, and why?”

The president has expressed clear his wish to be pictured on Time’s cover and did so on four occasions in the previous year. This fixation has made it as far as his golf courses – years ago, the publication requested to remove fabricated front pages shown in some of his properties.

The most recent cover image was shot by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on 5 October.

The perspective was unflattering to the president's jawline and throat – an opening that California governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the offending area obscured.

{The hostages from Israel held in Gaza have been liberated under the initial stage of Donald Trump's peace plan, together with a Palestinian prisoner release. The deal might turn into a signature achievement of his next term, and it may represent a key shift for the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a defence of Trump's image has been offered by a surprising origin: the director of information at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs intervened to denounce the "damaging" picture decision.

It's remarkable: a image reveals far more about those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people filled with spite and hatred –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", she wrote on the messaging platform.

In light of the positive pictures of President Biden that the periodical featured on the front, notwithstanding his health issues, the situation is self-revealing for the magazine", she noted.

The answer to the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – may be something to do with creatively capturing a impression of strength stated by Carly Earl, a media professional.

The image itself is well-executed," she notes. "They picked this image because they wanted the president to look impressive. Staring up at someone evokes a feeling of their majesty and his expression actually looks contemplative and almost somewhat divine. It’s not often you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – the image has a softness to it."

His hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has bleached that section of the image, generating a radiant circle, she explains. And, while the feature's heading pairs nicely with the president's look in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the subject matter."

"No one likes being captured from low angles, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the aesthetics are not flattering."

The publication contacted Time magazine for comment.