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It is a positive story in a magazine that Trump has consistently praised – but for one catch. The front-page image, he stated, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's tribute to Donald Trump's part in mediating a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was accompanied by a photo of the president taken from below and with the sun behind his head.

The outcome, Trump claims, is ""terrible".

"The publication wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the photo may be the lowest quality in history", the president posted on Truth Social.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that appeared as a suspended coronet, but an very tiny one. Really weird! I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a terrible picture, and merits public condemnation. Why did they do this, and why?”

Trump has made obvious his ambition to appear on the cover of Time and accomplished it on four occasions in the previous year. The preoccupation has made it as far as his golf courses – in 2017, the editors demanded to remove mocked up covers on display at several of his venues.

The latest edition’s photo was shot by a photographer for Bloomberg at the White House on October 5.

Its angle was unflattering to Trump’s chin and neck – an opening that the governor of California Newsom took advantage of, with his communications team sharing an altered image with the problematic part obscured.

{The Israeli captives detained in Gaza have been released under the opening part of Donald Trump's peace plan, together with a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The deal might turn into a defining accomplishment of the president's renewed tenure, and it could mark a key shift for the region.

Simultaneously, a support for his portrayal has been offered by a surprising origin: the spokesperson at Moscow's diplomatic office intervened to condemn the "self-incriminating" photo selection.

"It’s astonishing: a image says more about those who chose it than about the subject. Only sick people, people obsessed with malice and animosity –maybe even degenerates – could have chosen such a photo", the official shared on the messaging platform.

In light of the positive pictures of President Biden that the same publication displayed on the cover, despite his physical infirmity, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she said.

The answer to the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – may be something to do with innovatively depicting a sense of power according to a picture editor, an Australian publication's photo editor.

"The actual photo itself is well-executed," she explains. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look commanding. Staring up at someone creates an impression of their importance and his expression actually looks reflective and almost a bit ethereal. It's rare you see photos of Trump in such a peaceful state – the picture feels tender."

The president's hair looks erased because the rear illumination has bleached that section of the image, creating a halo effect, she adds. And, while the article's title pairs nicely with his facial expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the person photographed."

Nobody enjoys being shot from underneath, and even if all of the artistic aspects of the image are highly effective, the appearance are not flattering."

The Guardian approached the magazine for a statement.