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

Time's paean to Trump's role in brokering a truce for Gaza, featured on its November 10 cover, was paired with a image of Trump shot from a low angle while the sun positioned behind him.

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

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the lowest quality in history", he shared on his preferred network.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that appeared as a hovering tiara, but an very tiny one. Quite bizarre! I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a extremely poor picture, and merits public condemnation. What are they doing, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown clear his wish to be pictured on the cover of Time and achieved this four times last year. The preoccupation has made it as far as the president's resorts – years ago, the magazine asked him to remove mocked up covers on display at several of his venues.

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

The perspective did no favours for his chin and neck area – a chance that the governor of California Gavin Newsom seized, with the governor's office tweeting a version with the criticized section obscured.

{The Israeli captives in Gaza have been released under the opening part of Donald Trump's peace plan, in exchange for a release of Palestinian detainees. The arrangement might turn into a signature achievement of his next term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for the region.

At the same time, a defence of his portrayal has been offered by a surprising origin: the director of information at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to denounce the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

"It’s astonishing: a photo reveals far more about those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Only disturbed individuals, people driven by hatred and hatred –maybe even degenerates – could have picked this picture", the official shared on the messaging platform.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that the same publication used on the cover, despite his physical infirmity, the situation is self-revealing for the magazine", she said.

The answer to his queries – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – may be something to do with creatively capturing a feeling of authority says an imaging expert, a media professional.

"The actual photo itself technically is good," she notes. "They picked this image because they wanted Trump to look impressive. Looking up at a person gives a sense of their majesty and his expression actually looks reflective and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see images of the president in such a calm instance – the picture feels tender."

Trump’s hair seems to vanish because the light from behind has bleached that section of the image, producing a glowing aura, she says. Even though the story’s headline complements the president's look in the image, "you can’t always please the subject matter."

Few people appreciate being photographed from below, and even if all of the thematic components of the image are highly effective, the aesthetics are not complimentary."

The publication approached Time magazine for comment.