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This is a glowing feature in a magazine that the president has long exalted – except for one issue. The front-page image, he stated, ""could be the worst ever".

Time magazine's paean to Donald Trump's part in brokering a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was accompanied by a photograph of the president captured from underneath while the sun behind his head.

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

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the image may be the Worst of All Time", Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a hovering crown, but quite miniature. Truly strange! I have consistently disliked being captured from low angles, but this is a awful image, and it should be denounced. What is their goal, and why?”

The president has expressed clear his wish to be pictured on Time’s cover and did so multiple times in the past year. The obsession has extended to his golf courses – years ago, the editors demanded to remove fake issues exhibited in some of his properties.

This issue's photograph was taken by a photographer for Bloomberg at the White House on October 5.

Its angle was unflattering to the president's jawline and throat – an opportunity that the governor of California Newsom did not miss, with his communications team tweeting a version with the offending area blurred.

{The Israeli captives detained in Gaza have been freed under the first phase of Trump's ceasefire agreement, together with a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The arrangement could be a defining accomplishment of the president's renewed tenure, and it might signify a pivotal moment for the region.

Simultaneously, a support for the president’s appearance has come from unusual quarters: the communications chief at the Russian foreign ministry came forward to condemn the "revealing" picture decision.

It's amazing: a photo says more about those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people driven by hatred and hatred –perhaps even perverts – could have picked this picture", Maria Zakharova wrote on the messaging platform.

In light of the positive pictures of Biden that that magazine used on the cover, despite his physical infirmity, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she noted.

The explanation for Trump’s questions – why did they choose this, and why? – might involve creatively capturing a feeling of authority according to an imaging expert, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The image itself is professionally taken," she notes. "They picked this image because they wanted Trump to look commanding. Gazing upward gives a sense of their grandeur and his expression actually looks thoughtful and almost a bit ethereal. It's uncommon you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

Trump’s hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, generating a radiant circle, she explains. Although the feature's heading complements the president's look in the image, "you can’t always please the individual in question."

Few people appreciate being photographed from below, and while all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the aesthetics are unflattering."

The news outlet approached the periodical for a statement.