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It is a positive article in a publication that Trump has long exalted – except for one issue. The cover picture, the president decreed, ""could be the worst ever".

Time's paean to Trump's role in brokering a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was paired with a image of Trump taken from below while the sun behind his head.

The outcome, the president asserts, is ""terrible".

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the most awful ever", the president posted on his social media platform.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a suspended coronet, but an very tiny one. Quite bizarre! I never liked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a extremely poor picture, and should be criticized. What are they doing, and why?”

The president has expressed clear his wish to be pictured on Time magazine's front page and accomplished it four times last year. This fixation has extended to his golf courses – previously, the editors demanded to remove fake issues exhibited in several of his venues.

The most recent cover image was taken by Graeme Sloane for a news agency at the White House on the fifth of October.

Its angle did no favours for Trump’s chin and neck – an opening that California governor Gavin Newsom seized, with his press office tweeting a version with the offending area pixelated.

{The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been freed under the initial stage of Trump's ceasefire agreement, in exchange for a release of Palestinian detainees. The arrangement may become a defining accomplishment of the president's renewed tenure, and it could mark a key shift for that part of the world.

At the same time, a defense of Trump's image has emerged from unusual quarters: the spokesperson at Moscow's diplomatic office stepped in to condemn the "self-incriminating" photo selection.

It's remarkable: a photograph exposes those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only disturbed individuals, people driven by hatred and resentment –possibly even deviants – could have selected such an image", she wrote on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that the periodical featured on the front, notwithstanding his health issues, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she added.

The answer to Trump’s questions – what did the editors intend, and why? – could be related to artistically representing a feeling of authority according to a picture editor, a media professional.

"The actual photo itself technically is good," she notes. "They selected this photo because they wanted trump to look impressive. Looking up at a person evokes a feeling of their grandeur and his expression actually looks contemplative and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see pictures of him in such a peaceful state – the picture feels tender."

The president's hair appears to “disappear” because the light from behind has bleached that section of the image, generating a radiant circle, she says. And, while the story’s headline marries well with Trump’s expression in the image, "you can’t always please the person photographed."

Few people appreciate being shot from underneath, and while all of the artistic aspects of the image are highly effective, the appearance are unflattering."

The publication contacted the magazine for comment.