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This is a favorable article in a periodical that the president has long exalted – but for one catch. The magazine's cover photo, Trump declared, ""could be the worst ever".

Time's paean to Donald Trump's part in mediating a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was paired with a photograph of Trump shot from a low angle and with the sun behind his head.

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

"The publication wrote a relatively good story about me, but the photo 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 looked like a hovering tiara, but an extremely small one. Truly strange! I never liked taking pictures from below viewpoints, but this is a extremely poor picture, and merits public condemnation. What is their intention, and why?”

Trump has made clear his wish to appear on the cover of Time and accomplished it four times last year. This fixation has reached his golf courses – previously, the magazine asked him to remove fake issues on display at a few of his establishments.

The latest edition’s photo was captured by Graeme Sloane for a news agency at the presidential residence on October 5.

The shot's viewpoint was unflattering to Trump’s chin and neck – a chance that the governor of California Gavin Newsom took advantage of, with the governor's office tweeting a version with the criticized section obscured.

{The Israeli captives detained in Gaza have been released under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The deal could be a major success of his next term, and it might signify a key shift for the Middle East.

At the same time, a defense of the president’s appearance has emerged from unusual quarters: the director of information at Moscow's diplomatic office intervened to condemn the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

It's amazing: a photograph reveals far more about those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Just unwell persons, people obsessed with malice and resentment –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", she wrote on Telegram.

In light of the positive pictures 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 noted.

The response to the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – might involve innovatively depicting a feeling of authority according to an imaging expert, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The photograph technically is well-executed," she notes. "They picked this image because they wanted trump to look commanding. Gazing upward evokes a feeling of their importance and his expression actually looks thoughtful and almost somewhat divine. It's uncommon you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

His hair seems to vanish because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, producing a glowing aura, she adds. Although the story’s headline marries well with his facial expression in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the person photographed."

"No one likes being shot from underneath, and even if all of the thematic components of the image are highly effective, the appearance are unflattering."

The news outlet contacted the magazine for comment.