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It is a glowing feature in a publication that Trump has consistently praised – with one exception. The front-page image, Trump declared, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's tribute to Trump's role in facilitating a Gaza ceasefire, featured on its November 10 cover, was paired with a image of the president shot from a low angle while the sun positioned behind him.

The result, the president asserts, is "super bad".

"The publication wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the lowest quality in history", the president posted on his social media platform.

“They eliminated my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that resembled a floating crown, but an very tiny one. Truly strange! I never liked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a super bad picture, and should be criticized. Why did they do this, and why?”

The president has expressed clear his wish to feature on Time’s cover and achieved this multiple times in the past year. The preoccupation has made it as far as Trump’s golf clubs – years ago, the magazine asked him to remove mocked up covers exhibited in several of his venues.

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

The shot's viewpoint highlighted negatively the president's jawline and throat – an opportunity that California governor Newsom seized, with his press office tweeting a version with the problematic part pixelated.

{The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been freed under the initial stage of the president's diplomatic initiative, together with a freeing of Palestinian inmates. This agreement could be a signature achievement of Trump's second term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for that part of the world.

Meanwhile, a defense of his portrayal has been offered by unusual quarters: the spokesperson at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to condemn the "damaging" picture decision.

"It’s astonishing: a photograph says more about those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people filled with spite and hatred –maybe even degenerates – could have selected such an image", Maria Zakharova shared on the messaging platform.

In light of the positive pictures of Biden that the same publication displayed on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the case is self-damaging for Time", she said.

The explanation for his queries – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – might involve artistically representing a feeling of authority says an imaging expert, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The photograph technically is well-executed," she notes. "They chose this shot because they wanted the president to look commanding. Looking up at a person evokes a feeling of their importance and his expression actually looks thoughtful and almost somewhat divine. It's rare you see pictures of him in such a calm instance – the picture feels tender."

His hair looks erased because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she says. Even though the story’s headline pairs nicely with the president's look in the image, "you can’t always please the person photographed."

Nobody enjoys being photographed from below, and while all of the artistic aspects of the image are very strong, the visual appeal are not complimentary."

The news outlet approached the magazine for feedback.