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It is a positive article in a magazine that Donald Trump has frequently admired – with one exception. The cover picture, he stated, ""could be the worst ever".

Time magazine's praise to Trump's role in brokering a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was presented alongside a image of Trump shot from a low angle while the sun shining from the back.

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

"Time wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the picture may be the Worst of All Time", he shared on Truth Social.

“They eliminated my hair, and then had an object hovering on top of my head that looked like a suspended coronet, but an extremely small one. Really weird! I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a super bad picture, and deserves to be called out. Why did they do this, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown clear his wish to appear on Time magazine's front page and achieved this four times last year. This fixation has extended to the president's resorts – years ago, the magazine asked him to remove mocked up covers exhibited in some of his properties.

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

Its angle highlighted negatively his chin and neck area – an opportunity that the governor of California Gavin Newsom took advantage of, with his press office tweeting a version with the criticized section blurred.

{The Israeli captives held in Gaza have been liberated under the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. This agreement might turn into a major success of his next term, and it may represent a key shift for the region.

At the same time, a defence of his portrayal has come from unusual quarters: the director of information at the Russian foreign ministry came forward to denounce the "damaging" image choice.

"It’s astonishing: a photo exposes those who selected it than about the subject. Only disturbed individuals, people obsessed with malice and animosity –possibly even deviants – could have chosen such a photo", she posted on Telegram.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that the periodical featured on the front, even with his age-related challenges, the situation is self-revealing for the publication", she said.

The answer to Trump’s questions – what did the editors intend, and why? – might involve innovatively depicting a sense of power according to an imaging expert, a media professional.

The photograph technically 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 importance and Trump’s face actually looks contemplative and almost somewhat divine. It’s not often you see images of the president in such a peaceful state – the photo appears gentle."

His hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has bleached that section of the image, creating a halo effect, she says. Even though the article's title pairs nicely with his facial expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the subject matter."

Nobody enjoys being photographed from below, and even if all of the artistic aspects of the image are quite powerful, the aesthetics are unflattering."

The news outlet contacted the magazine for a statement.