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It is a positive feature in a periodical that Donald Trump has consistently praised – with one exception. The magazine's cover photo, he stated, ""could be the worst ever".

Time magazine's praise to Donald Trump's part in mediating a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was accompanied by a photo of Trump shot from a low angle while the sun behind his head.

The result, the president asserts, is "super bad".

"Time Magazine wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the photo may be the Worst of All Time", Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“My hair was erased, and then there was an object above my head that appeared as a suspended diadem, but quite miniature. Very odd! I have always hated being photographed from below, but this is a awful image, and it merits criticism. What is their goal, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to appear on Time magazine's front page and did so on four occasions in the previous year. The obsession has extended to Trump’s golf clubs – previously, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers exhibited in several of his venues.

The latest edition’s photo was taken by a photographer for a news agency at the White House on October 5.

The shot's viewpoint was unflattering to Trump’s chin and neck – an opportunity that the governor of California Gavin Newsom seized, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the offending area blurred.

{The Israeli captives held in Gaza have been released under the initial stage of Trump's ceasefire agreement, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. The arrangement may become a defining accomplishment of the president's renewed tenure, and it may represent a pivotal moment for the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a support for Trump's image has come from a surprising origin: the director of information at the Russian foreign ministry stepped in to criticise the "revealing" picture decision.

It's remarkable: a image reveals far more about those who picked it than about the subject. Just unwell persons, people obsessed with malice and resentment –perhaps even perverts – could have picked this picture", Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that that magazine featured on the front, notwithstanding his health issues, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she said.

The explanation for his queries – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to innovatively depicting a sense of power according to an imaging expert, a media professional.

"The actual photo itself is professionally taken," she says. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look heroic. Looking up at a person creates an impression of their majesty and the president's visage actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It's rare you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – the image has a softness to it."

The president's hair seems to vanish because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, producing a glowing aura, she explains. Although the story’s headline complements his facial expression in the image, "you can’t always please the individual in question."

Few people appreciate being captured from low angles, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are quite powerful, the aesthetics are unflattering."

The publication reached out to the magazine for a statement.