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This is a positive article in a publication that the president has consistently praised – but for one catch. The cover picture, Trump declared, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time's paean to Donald Trump's part in brokering a truce for Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was accompanied by a photo of the president shot from a low angle and with the sun shining from the back.

The effect, he says, is ""extremely poor".

"Time Magazine wrote a relatively good story about me, but the photo may be the Worst of All Time", Trump wrote on his preferred network.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a floating crown, but extremely small. Really weird! I have always hated being shot from underneath, but this is a super bad image, and it merits criticism. What is their goal, and why?”

The president has expressed clear his wish to feature on Time’s cover and did so multiple times in the past year. The preoccupation has extended to his golf courses – in 2017, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers on display at several of his venues.

The most recent cover image was taken by a photographer for Bloomberg at the presidential residence on October 5.

The shot's viewpoint highlighted negatively his chin and neck area – an opportunity that the governor of California Newsom did not miss, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the criticized section obscured.

{The living Israeli hostages detained in Gaza have been freed under the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan, in exchange for a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The arrangement may become a defining accomplishment of his next term, and it might signify a pivotal moment for that part of the world.

Simultaneously, a support for Trump's image has been offered by an unexpected source: the communications chief at the Russian foreign ministry stepped in to criticise the "self-incriminating" photo selection.

It's remarkable: a image exposes those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people obsessed with malice and resentment –maybe even degenerates – could have picked this picture", the official wrote on her social channel.

"And given the complimentary photos of President Biden that that magazine displayed on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the story is simply self-incriminating for the publication", she said.

The explanation for the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to creatively capturing a feeling of authority says Carly Earl, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The image itself is professionally taken," she says. "They selected this photo because they wanted Trump to look impressive. Gazing upward evokes a feeling of their grandeur and his expression actually looks thoughtful and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see photos of Trump in such a calm instance – the image has a softness to it."

The president's hair seems to vanish because the rear illumination has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she explains. And, while the story’s headline marries well with Trump’s expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the person photographed."

Few people appreciate being photographed from below, and while all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the visual appeal are not flattering."

The publication approached the magazine for feedback.