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It is a glowing article in a magazine that Donald 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 Trump's role in mediating a truce for Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was presented alongside a photo of Trump captured from underneath while the sun behind his head.

The effect, he says, is ""terrible".

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the most awful ever", Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was an object above my head that seemed like a floating crown, but extremely small. Very odd! I have never liked being photographed from below, but this is a extremely poor image, and it merits criticism. What are they doing, and why?”

The president has expressed clear his wish to be pictured on Time’s cover and achieved this multiple times in the past year. This fixation has made it as far as Trump’s golf clubs – in 2017, the publication requested to remove fake issues shown in several of his venues.

This issue's photograph was shot by a photographer for a news agency at the White House on the fifth of October.

The perspective highlighted negatively Trump’s chin and neck – an opportunity that California governor Newsom took advantage of, with the governor's office posting a modified photo with the criticized section obscured.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been freed under the opening part of Donald Trump's peace plan, in exchange for a freeing of Palestinian inmates. This agreement may become a signature achievement of his next term, and it might signify a pivotal moment for the region.

At the same time, a defence of his portrayal has been offered by a surprising origin: the communications chief at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs came forward to condemn the "damaging" image choice.

"It’s astonishing: a photograph reveals far more about those who selected it than about the subject. Only sick people, people obsessed with malice and hatred –perhaps even perverts – could have chosen such a photo", the official shared on the messaging platform.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that that magazine displayed on the cover, despite his physical infirmity, the case is self-damaging for Time", she noted.

The explanation for his queries – why did they choose this, and why? – might involve innovatively depicting a feeling of authority according to a picture editor, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The image itself is well-executed," she explains. "They chose this shot because they wanted Trump to look commanding. Gazing upward evokes a feeling of their importance and the president's visage actually looks contemplative and almost slightly angelic. It's rare 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 light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, generating a radiant circle, she explains. And, while the feature's heading pairs nicely with his facial expression in the image, "you can’t always please the subject matter."

"No one likes being photographed from below, and while all of the thematic components of the image are very strong, the aesthetics are not complimentary."

The news outlet reached out to the magazine for a statement.