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It is a favorable feature in a magazine that Trump has long exalted – but for one catch. The cover picture, the president decreed, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time's praise to the president's involvement in brokering a Gaza ceasefire, featured on its November 10 cover, was presented alongside a photograph of Trump shot from a low angle while the sun positioned behind him.

The effect, he says, is "super bad".

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the lowest quality in history", he shared on his preferred network.

“My hair was obscured, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a hovering crown, but quite miniature. Very odd! I have always hated being captured from low angles, but this is a awful image, and it deserves to be called out. What is their goal, and why?”

Trump has made clear his wish to appear on the cover of Time and did so multiple times in the past year. This fixation has reached his golf courses – years ago, the magazine asked him to remove fabricated front pages on display at several of his venues.

This issue's photograph was captured by Graeme Sloane for Bloomberg at the White House on October 5.

The perspective did no favours for his chin and neck area – an opportunity that the governor of California Newsom seized, with the governor's office tweeting a version with the problematic part pixelated.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been liberated under the first phase of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The deal could be a major success of Trump's second term, and it could mark a key shift for the region.

Simultaneously, a defence of Trump's image has come from a surprising origin: the communications chief at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs intervened to condemn the "damaging" photo selection.

"It’s astonishing: a photograph reveals far more about those who chose it than about the subject. Only sick people, people driven by hatred and hatred –maybe even degenerates – could have chosen such a photo", Maria Zakharova shared on her social channel.

Considering the favorable images of Biden that the same publication featured on the front, notwithstanding his health issues, the story is simply self-incriminating for the magazine", she added.

The response to the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – may be something to do with innovatively depicting a impression of strength according to an imaging expert, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The photograph technically technically is good," she explains. "They picked this image because they wanted the president to look heroic. Gazing upward creates an impression of their grandeur and the president's visage actually looks reflective and almost a bit ethereal. It’s not often you see photos of Trump in such a peaceful state – the image has a softness to it."

Trump’s hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, creating a halo effect, she explains. And, while the feature's heading pairs nicely with the president's look in the image, "you can’t always please the person photographed."

Nobody enjoys being shot from underneath, and although all of the thematic components of the image are highly effective, the appearance are unflattering."

The publication contacted Time magazine for a statement.