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

Time's paean to Donald Trump's part in mediating a ceasefire in Gaza, headlining its early November edition, was paired with a image of the president taken from below while the sun positioned behind him.

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

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the photo may be the Worst of All Time", the president posted on his preferred network.

“They removed my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that resembled a floating crown, but an remarkably little one. Quite bizarre! I always disliked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a extremely poor picture, and should be criticized. What are they doing, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to appear on the cover of Time and did so on four occasions in the previous year. The preoccupation has reached Trump’s golf clubs – in 2017, the magazine asked him to remove fake issues on display at some of his properties.

This issue's photograph was shot by a photographer for Bloomberg at the presidential residence on October 5.

The perspective was unflattering to his chin and neck area – an opportunity that California governor Newsom seized, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the offending area blurred.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been freed under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, together with a Palestinian prisoner release. This agreement could be a signature achievement of Trump's second term, and it may represent a pivotal moment for the region.

Meanwhile, a support for the president’s appearance has come from unusual quarters: the director of information at Moscow's diplomatic office stepped in to denounce the "self-incriminating" image choice.

It's remarkable: a photo says more about those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people driven by hatred and resentment –maybe even degenerates – could have selected such an image", she shared on the messaging platform.

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

The response to Trump’s questions – why did they choose this, and why? – might involve innovatively depicting a feeling of authority says a picture editor, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The photograph technically technically is good," she explains. "They picked this image because they wanted trump to look commanding. Looking up at a person evokes a feeling of their importance and his expression actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It's uncommon you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – the image has a softness to it."

His hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has bleached that section of the image, generating a radiant circle, she explains. And, while the feature's heading pairs nicely with Trump’s expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the subject matter."

Few people appreciate being shot from underneath, and even if all of the conceptual elements of the image are very strong, the aesthetics are unflattering."

The publication approached Time magazine for comment.