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This is a glowing feature in a periodical that Trump has frequently admired – except for one issue. The front-page image, Trump declared, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's tribute to Donald Trump's part in facilitating a truce for Gaza, featured on its November 10 cover, was accompanied by a image of Trump shot from a low angle and with the sun shining from the back.

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

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

“They eliminated my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that looked like a hovering tiara, but an extremely small one. Quite bizarre! I never liked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a terrible picture, and deserves to be called out. What is their intention, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown no secret of his desire to feature on the cover of Time and achieved this on four occasions in the previous year. The preoccupation has made it as far as the president's resorts – previously, the publication requested to remove fabricated front pages exhibited in some of his properties.

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

The perspective highlighted negatively his chin and neck area – a chance that the governor of California Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his press office sharing an altered image with the offending area obscured.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been freed under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a Palestinian prisoner release. The arrangement may become a major success of the president's renewed tenure, and it could mark a pivotal moment for the Middle East.

At the same time, a defense of the president’s appearance has been offered by an unexpected source: the spokesperson at the Russian foreign ministry intervened to criticise the "self-incriminating" photo selection.

It's amazing: a photograph exposes those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people filled with spite and resentment –perhaps even perverts – could have picked this picture", she wrote on Telegram.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that the same publication displayed on the cover, even with his age-related challenges, the case is self-damaging for the magazine", she added.

The answer to Trump’s questions – what did the editors intend, and why? – may be something to do with artistically representing a feeling of authority says an imaging expert, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The photograph technically is well-executed," she explains. "They chose this shot because they wanted trump to look heroic. Looking up at a person gives a sense of their grandeur and the president's visage actually looks thoughtful and almost a bit ethereal. It's uncommon you see photos of Trump in such a calm instance – the photo appears gentle."

The president's hair looks erased because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she explains. And, while the feature's heading marries well with his facial expression in the image, "you can’t always please the individual in question."

Few people appreciate being captured from low angles, and while all of the conceptual elements of the image are quite powerful, the appearance are not flattering."

The Guardian contacted Time magazine for a statement.