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This is a positive story in a periodical that Trump has frequently admired – but for one catch. The front-page image, the president decreed, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time's paean to Donald Trump's part in facilitating a ceasefire in Gaza, headlining its early November edition, was presented alongside a photograph of the president captured from underneath and with the sun shining from the back.

The result, Trump claims, is ""terrible".

"The publication wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the Worst of All Time", Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was a shape over my head that appeared as a floating crown, but extremely small. Truly strange! I have consistently disliked being captured from low angles, but this is a extremely poor image, and it should be denounced. Why did they choose this, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown clear his wish to be pictured on Time’s cover and accomplished it multiple times in the past year. This fixation has reached his golf courses – in 2017, the magazine asked him to remove mocked up covers on display at several of his venues.

The most recent cover image was taken by a photographer for a news agency at the White House on October 5.

Its angle did no favours for his chin and neck area – a chance that California governor Newsom did not miss, with the governor's office tweeting a version with the problematic part blurred.

{The living Israeli hostages in Gaza have been liberated under the initial stage of the president's diplomatic initiative, in exchange for a release of Palestinian detainees. The deal may become a signature achievement of Trump's second term, and it may represent a key shift for the Middle East.

Simultaneously, a defense of his portrayal has come from an unexpected source: the communications chief at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to condemn the "damaging" image choice.

"It’s astonishing: a image exposes those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people filled with spite and hatred –maybe even degenerates – could have picked this picture", Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of President Biden that that magazine featured on the front, despite his physical infirmity, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she added.

The response to the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – may be something to do with creatively capturing a feeling of authority according to a picture editor, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The photograph technically is well-executed," she says. "They chose this shot because they wanted Trump to look impressive. Staring up at someone creates an impression of their majesty and the president's visage actually looks contemplative and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon 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 overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she adds. And, while the story’s headline marries well with Trump’s expression in the image, "you can’t always please the person photographed."

Nobody enjoys being shot from underneath, and while all of the thematic components of the image are quite powerful, the visual appeal are not flattering."

The publication contacted the magazine for comment.