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It is a positive story in a magazine that the president has consistently praised – with one exception. The magazine's cover photo, Trump declared, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time magazine's paean to Donald Trump's part in brokering a Gaza ceasefire, featured on its November 10 cover, was accompanied by a photograph of Trump captured from underneath while the sun shining from the back.

The outcome, the president asserts, is ""extremely poor".

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the image may be the most awful ever", the president posted on his preferred network.

“My hair was obscured, and then there was an object above my head that looked like a floating crown, but quite miniature. Very odd! I have always hated being captured from low angles, but this is a extremely poor image, and it deserves to be called out. What are they doing, and why?”

Trump has made obvious his ambition to feature on Time magazine's front page and did so four times last year. The obsession has made it as far as the president's resorts – previously, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers on display at several of his venues.

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

Its angle was unflattering to his chin and neck area – an opening that California governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his press office posting a modified photo with the problematic part obscured.

{The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been freed under the first phase of the president's diplomatic initiative, together with a release of Palestinian detainees. This agreement might turn into a defining accomplishment of Trump's second term, and it might signify a strategic turning point for that part of the world.

At the same time, a defence of his portrayal has been offered by an unexpected source: the director of information at Moscow's diplomatic office stepped in to criticise the "damaging" photo selection.

"It’s astonishing: a photo exposes those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only disturbed individuals, people filled with spite and hatred –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", Maria Zakharova shared on her social channel.

Considering the favorable images of Biden that the periodical used on the cover, despite his physical infirmity, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she noted.

The response to Trump’s questions – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to innovatively depicting a sense of power stated by Carly Earl, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The image itself is well-executed," she explains. "They picked this image because they wanted trump to look heroic. Looking up at a person gives a sense of their majesty and the president's visage actually looks contemplative and almost somewhat divine. It’s not often you see pictures of him in such a peaceful state – the picture feels tender."

His hair looks erased because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, generating a radiant circle, she says. And, while the story’s headline complements the president's look in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the individual in question."

Nobody enjoys being photographed from below, and while all of the artistic aspects of the image are highly effective, the appearance are not flattering."

The publication contacted the periodical for feedback.