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It is a favorable feature in a publication that Trump has consistently praised – but for one catch. The cover picture, he stated, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time magazine's paean to Trump's role in facilitating a truce for Gaza, featured on its November 10 cover, was accompanied by a image of the president captured from underneath while the sun positioned behind him.

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

"The publication wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the image may be the Worst of All Time", he shared on his social media platform.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that resembled a suspended coronet, but an remarkably little one. Truly strange! I always disliked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a super bad picture, and merits public condemnation. What is their intention, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to appear on the cover of Time and did so four times last year. The preoccupation has reached his golf courses – previously, the magazine asked him to remove fabricated front pages exhibited in several of his venues.

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

The shot's viewpoint highlighted negatively the president's jawline and throat – an opening that the governor of California Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his press office posting a modified photo with the criticized section blurred.

{The living Israeli hostages in Gaza have been released under the first phase of Trump's ceasefire agreement, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. The deal could be a major success of Trump's second term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for that part of the world.

Meanwhile, a defence of Trump's image has come from an unexpected source: the communications chief at the Russian foreign ministry came forward to criticise the "revealing" image choice.

It's remarkable: a photo exposes those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Only disturbed individuals, people filled with spite and resentment –perhaps even perverts – could have picked this picture", the official shared on Telegram.

In light of the positive pictures of President Biden that the periodical displayed on the cover, even with his age-related challenges, the situation is self-revealing for the publication", she said.

The answer to his queries – what did the editors intend, and why? – may be something to do with innovatively depicting a feeling of authority according to an imaging expert, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The image itself is well-executed," she explains. "They selected this photo because they wanted Trump to look impressive. Looking up at a person gives a sense of their importance and the president's visage actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It's rare you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the image has a softness to it."

The president's hair looks erased because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, producing a glowing aura, she adds. And, while the story’s headline complements the president's look in the image, "you can’t always please the individual in question."

Nobody enjoys being captured from low angles, and although all of the thematic components of the image are very strong, the appearance are unflattering."

The Guardian approached Time magazine for feedback.