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This is a positive feature in a publication that the president has frequently admired – except for one issue. The magazine's cover photo, Trump declared, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time's praise to the president's involvement in facilitating a Gaza ceasefire, headlining its early November edition, was presented alongside a photograph of the president shot from a low angle and with the sun behind his head.

The result, he says, is "super bad".

"Time wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the picture may be the lowest quality in history", the president posted on Truth Social.

“My hair was obscured, and then there was something floating my head that seemed like a hovering crown, but extremely small. Very odd! I have never liked being photographed from below, but this is a extremely poor image, and it deserves to be called out. What is their goal, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to appear on Time magazine's front page and achieved this four times last year. The preoccupation has reached Trump’s golf clubs – years ago, the publication requested to remove fake issues shown in a few of his establishments.

The most recent cover image was taken by Graeme Sloane for a news agency at the presidential residence on the fifth of October.

Its angle did no favours for his chin and neck area – an opportunity that California governor Gavin Newsom seized, with his press office tweeting a version with the criticized section obscured.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been released under the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan, in exchange for a release of Palestinian detainees. The deal may become a signature achievement of Trump's second term, and it may represent a key shift for that part of the world.

Meanwhile, a support for his portrayal has come from an unexpected source: the director of information at the Russian foreign ministry came forward to criticise the "damaging" image choice.

It's remarkable: a image exposes those who chose it than about the person in it. Only disturbed individuals, people filled with spite and resentment –maybe even degenerates – could have chosen such a photo", the official posted on her social channel.

"And given the complimentary photos of President Biden that the same publication featured on the front, despite his physical infirmity, the situation is self-revealing for Time", she added.

The answer to the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – might involve artistically representing a impression of strength according to an imaging expert, a media professional.

"The actual photo itself is well-executed," she notes. "They chose this shot because they wanted the president to look heroic. Looking up at a person gives a sense of their importance and Trump’s face actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It's rare you see pictures of him in such a peaceful state – the picture feels tender."

His hair appears to “disappear” because the light from behind has washed out that area of the image, generating a radiant circle, she adds. Although the story’s headline pairs nicely with Trump’s expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the person photographed."

Nobody enjoys being captured from low angles, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the appearance are not flattering."

The Guardian contacted the periodical for feedback.