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This is a positive article in a periodical that the president has frequently admired – but for one catch. The front-page image, he stated, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time magazine's paean to Donald Trump's part in facilitating a Gaza ceasefire, leading its 10 November issue, was accompanied by a image of the president captured from underneath and with the sun behind his head.

The outcome, Trump claims, is ""extremely poor".

"Time wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the picture may be the lowest quality in history", Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“They eliminated my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that appeared as a suspended coronet, but an remarkably little one. Truly strange! I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a terrible picture, and deserves to be called out. Why did they do this, 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 – previously, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers shown in several of his venues.

This issue's photograph was captured by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on the fifth of October.

Its angle did no favours for Trump’s chin and neck – a chance that the governor of California Newsom did not miss, with his press office tweeting a version with the problematic part blurred.

{The Israeli captives in Gaza have been freed under the initial stage of the president's diplomatic initiative, in exchange for a Palestinian prisoner release. This agreement might turn into a major success of Trump's second term, and it may represent a pivotal moment for the region.

Meanwhile, a defense of his portrayal has come from unusual quarters: the communications chief at the Russian foreign ministry stepped in to condemn the "damaging" image choice.

It's remarkable: a photo exposes those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people driven by hatred and resentment –maybe even degenerates – could have chosen such a photo", the official shared on Telegram.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that the periodical used on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she added.

The response to the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – could be related to creatively capturing a sense of power says a picture editor, a media professional.

The image itself technically is good," she notes. "They picked this image because they wanted Trump to look commanding. Staring up at someone creates an impression of their majesty and the president's visage actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It's rare you see pictures of him in such a calm instance – the photo appears gentle."

The president's hair seems to vanish because the sunlight behind him has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she adds. And, while the article's title marries well with Trump’s expression in the image, "you can’t always please the subject matter."

Few people appreciate being shot from underneath, and although all of the thematic components of the image are quite powerful, the visual appeal are not complimentary."

The Guardian contacted the periodical for feedback.