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It is a favorable feature in a periodical that Trump has frequently admired – except for one issue. The front-page image, Trump declared, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time magazine's tribute to Donald Trump's part in mediating a truce for Gaza, featured on its November 10 cover, was accompanied by a image of Trump captured from underneath while the sun behind his head.

The result, Trump claims, is "super bad".

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

“My hair was obscured, and then there was something floating my head that appeared as a suspended diadem, but very tiny. Very odd! I have always hated being shot from underneath, but this is a extremely poor image, and it deserves to be called out. What is their goal, and why?”

The president has expressed obvious his ambition to feature on Time’s cover and accomplished it four times last year. The preoccupation has extended to his golf courses – years ago, the publication requested to remove fake issues shown in a few of his establishments.

The latest edition’s photo was taken by Graeme Sloane for Bloomberg at the White House on 5 October.

Its angle was unflattering to the president's jawline and throat – an opening that California governor Gavin Newsom seized, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the problematic part obscured.

{The living Israeli hostages in Gaza have been freed under the opening part of Donald Trump's peace plan, in exchange for a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The arrangement could be a defining accomplishment of Trump's second term, and it might signify a key shift for the Middle East.

At the same time, a support for Trump's image has emerged from unusual quarters: the spokesperson at the Russian foreign ministry stepped in to denounce the "self-incriminating" photo selection.

It's remarkable: a photo exposes those who picked it than about the subject. Just unwell persons, people driven by hatred and animosity –possibly even deviants – could have picked this picture", she shared on the messaging platform.

"And given the complimentary photos of President Biden that the periodical displayed on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the case is self-damaging for Time", she added.

The answer to the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – might involve innovatively depicting a sense of power according to an imaging expert, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

"The actual photo itself is well-executed," she says. "They selected this photo because they wanted Trump to look heroic. Gazing upward gives a sense of their importance and the president's visage actually looks thoughtful and almost somewhat divine. It's rare you see photos of Trump in such a calm instance – the image has a softness to it."

The president's hair looks erased because the light from behind has bleached that section of the image, producing a glowing aura, she says. And, while the feature's heading complements the president's look in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the person photographed."

"No one likes being shot from underneath, and although all of the thematic components of the image are very strong, the visual appeal are not flattering."

The news outlet contacted the magazine for comment.