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It is a positive story in a periodical that the president has consistently praised – except for one issue. The front-page image, he stated, "may be the Worst of All Time".

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

The result, he says, is ""terrible".

"Time wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the photo may be the most awful ever", he shared on his preferred network.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had an object hovering on top of my head that appeared as a floating crown, but an remarkably little one. Truly strange! I consistently avoided taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a super bad picture, and merits public condemnation. Why did they do this, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to feature on Time’s cover and did so on four occasions in the previous year. The preoccupation has reached his golf courses – in 2017, the publication requested to remove fake issues exhibited in a few of his establishments.

The most recent cover image was captured by Graeme Sloane for a news agency at the presidential residence on 5 October.

The shot's viewpoint did no favours for Trump’s chin and neck – an opening that California governor Newsom did not miss, with his press office posting a modified photo with the criticized section pixelated.

{The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been liberated under the first phase of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a Palestinian prisoner release. This agreement may become a signature achievement of Trump's second term, and it may represent a key shift for the region.

Simultaneously, a defense of his portrayal has come from unusual quarters: the spokesperson at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to denounce the "damaging" picture decision.

It's amazing: a image exposes those who chose it than about the subject. Only sick people, people driven by hatred and resentment –perhaps even perverts – could have picked this picture", she posted on the messaging platform.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that the periodical featured on the front, even with his age-related challenges, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she said.

The answer to Trump’s questions – what did the editors intend, and why? – might involve artistically representing a impression of strength stated by Carly Earl, a media professional.

The image itself is well-executed," she explains. "They picked this image because they wanted the president to look heroic. Gazing upward creates an impression of their majesty and the president's visage actually looks contemplative and almost slightly angelic. It’s not often you see images of the president in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

Trump’s hair seems to vanish because the sunlight behind him has bleached that section of the image, generating a radiant circle, she says. Although the story’s headline marries well with the president's look in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the individual in question."

Few people appreciate being photographed from below, and while all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the aesthetics are not flattering."

The Guardian reached out to the magazine for a statement.