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It is a favorable article in a periodical that Trump has consistently praised – except for one issue. The front-page image, he stated, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's praise to Donald Trump's part in mediating a truce for Gaza, featured on its November 10 cover, was presented alongside a photo of Trump taken from below while the sun shining from the back.

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

"Time wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the photo may be the most awful ever", the president posted on Truth Social.

“They eliminated my hair, and then had an object hovering on top of my head that appeared as a floating crown, but an very tiny one. Quite bizarre! I consistently avoided taking pictures from below viewpoints, but this is a terrible picture, and merits public condemnation. What are they doing, and why?”

Trump has made obvious his ambition to appear on the cover of Time and achieved this on four occasions in the previous year. The preoccupation has reached the president's resorts – in 2017, the editors demanded to remove fake issues exhibited in a few of his establishments.

This issue's photograph was taken by a photographer for Bloomberg at the White House on October 5.

The shot's viewpoint highlighted negatively his chin and neck area – an opening that the governor of California Gavin Newsom took advantage of, with the governor's office tweeting a version with the problematic part obscured.

{The Israeli captives in Gaza have been freed under the opening part of Trump's ceasefire agreement, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. The arrangement may become a major success of his next term, and it may represent a strategic turning point for that part of the world.

Meanwhile, a defense of Trump's image has been offered by unusual quarters: the director of information at Moscow's diplomatic office stepped in to criticise the "self-incriminating" image choice.

It's amazing: a photo reveals far more about those who picked it than about the subject. Just unwell persons, people driven by hatred and animosity –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram.

In light of the positive pictures of Biden that the same publication featured on the front, even with his age-related challenges, the case is self-damaging for Time", she said.

The answer to the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – may be something to do with creatively capturing a sense of power according to Carly Earl, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

"The actual photo itself is well-executed," she explains. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look impressive. Staring up at someone creates an impression of their grandeur and the president's visage actually looks contemplative and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the picture feels tender."

The president's hair appears to “disappear” because the sunlight behind him has bleached that section of the image, producing a glowing aura, she says. Although the article's title complements the president's look in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the subject matter."

Few people appreciate being photographed from below, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the visual appeal are unflattering."

The Guardian approached the periodical for feedback.