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This is a positive feature in a publication that Trump has frequently admired – except for one issue. The magazine's cover photo, the president decreed, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's paean to Donald Trump's part in brokering a truce for Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was paired with a photograph of Trump captured from underneath and with the sun behind his head.

The effect, Trump claims, is ""extremely poor".

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

“They removed my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that appeared as a floating crown, but an remarkably little one. Truly strange! I never liked taking pictures from below viewpoints, but this is a terrible picture, and merits public condemnation. What is their intention, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown no secret of his desire to be pictured on the cover of Time and accomplished it on four occasions in the previous year. The preoccupation has reached Trump’s golf clubs – years ago, the publication requested to remove fake issues on display at a few of his establishments.

The most recent cover image was taken by Graeme Sloane for Bloomberg at the White House on October 5.

The perspective did no favours for his chin and neck area – an opening that the governor of California Newsom took advantage of, with his communications team tweeting a version with the criticized section blurred.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been released under the opening part of Trump's ceasefire agreement, alongside a Palestinian prisoner release. The deal may become a major success of the president's renewed tenure, and it might signify a key shift for the region.

Meanwhile, a defense of his portrayal has come from an unexpected source: the communications chief at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to criticise the "revealing" photo selection.

It's amazing: a image says more about those who chose it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people driven by hatred and resentment –possibly even deviants – could have picked this picture", Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos 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 response to the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – might involve artistically representing a feeling of authority according to Carly Earl, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The image itself is well-executed," she explains. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look heroic. Gazing upward gives a sense of their importance and Trump’s face actually looks contemplative and almost a bit ethereal. It's uncommon you see photos of Trump in such a calm instance – the photo appears gentle."

His hair looks erased because the sunlight behind him has bleached that section of the image, producing a glowing aura, she says. Even though the feature's heading marries well with the president's look in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the subject matter."

Nobody enjoys being captured from low angles, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the visual appeal are not flattering."

The publication contacted the periodical for comment.