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This is a positive feature in a periodical that the president has frequently admired – except for one issue. The cover picture, he stated, ""could be the worst ever".

Time magazine's paean to Trump's role in brokering a Gaza ceasefire, featured on its November 10 cover, was paired with a image of Trump captured from underneath and with the sun shining from the back.

The effect, the president asserts, is "super bad".

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

“My hair was erased, and then there was something floating my head that appeared as a suspended diadem, but quite miniature. Very odd! I have always hated being shot from underneath, but this is a extremely poor image, and it merits criticism. What is their goal, and why?”

Trump has made no secret of his desire to appear on Time magazine's front page and achieved this multiple times in the past year. This fixation has reached Trump’s golf clubs – years ago, the editors demanded to remove fabricated front pages exhibited in several of his venues.

The most recent cover image was shot by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on the fifth of October.

Its angle did no favours for his chin and neck area – an opportunity that the governor of California Newsom seized, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the criticized section obscured.

{The living Israeli hostages in Gaza have been liberated under the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan, alongside a Palestinian prisoner release. This agreement could be a signature achievement of his next term, and it might signify a strategic turning point for that part of the world.

Simultaneously, a defense of Trump's image has emerged from a surprising origin: the director of information at Moscow's diplomatic office stepped in to denounce the "self-incriminating" photo selection.

It's remarkable: a photo exposes those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only disturbed individuals, people driven by hatred and resentment –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", Maria Zakharova posted on her social channel.

"And given the complimentary photos of President Biden that the periodical featured on the front, even with his age-related challenges, the case is self-damaging for the magazine", she added.

The explanation for the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – might involve artistically representing a impression of strength according to a picture editor, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The image itself technically is good," she explains. "They chose this shot because they wanted Trump to look impressive. Gazing upward gives a sense of their majesty and the president's visage actually looks contemplative and almost a bit ethereal. It’s not often you see pictures of him in such a peaceful state – the image has a softness to it."

The president's hair seems to vanish because the light from behind has bleached that section of the image, producing a glowing aura, she says. And, while the story’s headline pairs nicely with his facial expression in the image, "you can’t always please the person photographed."

Nobody enjoys being photographed from below, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are very strong, the appearance are unflattering."

The Guardian contacted Time magazine for feedback.