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It is a positive story in a publication that Trump has consistently praised – with one exception. The magazine's cover photo, Trump declared, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time magazine's paean to the president's involvement in facilitating a Gaza ceasefire, headlining its early November edition, was presented alongside a photo of Trump taken from below while the sun behind his head.

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

"Time wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the picture may be the lowest quality in history", he shared on his social media platform.

“My hair was erased, and then there was a shape over my head that appeared as a hovering crown, but quite miniature. Very odd! I have always hated being shot from underneath, but this is a awful image, and it should be denounced. What is their goal, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to be pictured on the cover of Time and did so four times last year. The obsession has extended to the president's resorts – years ago, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers shown in several of his venues.

This issue's photograph was taken by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on October 5.

The perspective did no favours for Trump’s chin and neck – an opportunity that the governor of California Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the offending area pixelated.

{The hostages from Israel in Gaza have been freed under the initial stage of Trump's ceasefire agreement, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The arrangement might turn into a signature achievement of Trump's second term, and it might signify a strategic turning point for the Middle East.

At the same time, a support for his portrayal has been offered by an unexpected source: the spokesperson at Moscow's diplomatic office intervened to condemn the "damaging" photo selection.

It's remarkable: a photograph exposes those who chose it than about the subject. Just unwell persons, people obsessed with malice and animosity –perhaps even perverts – could have picked this picture", the official posted on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of President Biden that the same publication displayed on the cover, despite his physical infirmity, the situation is self-revealing for Time", she added.

The response to Trump’s questions – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – could be related to creatively capturing a impression of strength says an imaging expert, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The image itself is professionally taken," she explains. "They picked this image because they wanted Trump to look heroic. Gazing upward evokes a feeling of their grandeur and Trump’s face actually looks thoughtful and almost a bit ethereal. It’s not often you see images of the president in such a peaceful state – the image has a softness to it."

The president's hair looks erased because the sunlight behind him has overexposed that part of the image, producing a glowing aura, she adds. And, while the story’s headline complements Trump’s expression in the image, "you can’t always please the individual in question."

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

The news outlet reached out to the periodical for comment.