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This is a favorable story in a publication that the president has consistently praised – but for one catch. The front-page image, Trump declared, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time's tribute to Donald Trump's part in mediating a truce for Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was paired with a photo of Trump captured from underneath and with the sun positioned behind him.

The outcome, Trump claims, is ""terrible".

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

“They removed my hair, and then had an object hovering on top of my head that resembled a floating crown, but an remarkably little one. Quite bizarre! I never liked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a terrible picture, and should be criticized. What are they doing, and why?”

Trump has made no secret of his desire to appear on Time magazine's front page and achieved this four times last year. This fixation has extended to the president's resorts – years ago, the magazine asked him to remove fabricated front pages exhibited in several of his venues.

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

The shot's viewpoint did no favours for Trump’s chin and neck – an opening that California governor Gavin Newsom took advantage of, with the governor's office posting a modified photo with the criticized section obscured.

{The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been released under the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The deal may become a defining accomplishment of Trump's second term, and it could mark a key shift for the Middle East.

Simultaneously, a defense of his portrayal has come from an unexpected source: the spokesperson at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to criticise the "damaging" image choice.

"It’s astonishing: a photograph reveals far more about those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Just unwell persons, people driven by hatred and animosity –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", the official posted on the messaging platform.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that the same publication displayed on the cover, despite his physical infirmity, the situation is self-revealing for the publication", she added.

The answer to Trump’s questions – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to innovatively depicting a sense of power says an imaging expert, a media professional.

"The actual photo itself technically is good," she explains. "They selected this photo 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 rare you see images of the president in such a serene moment – the picture feels tender."

His hair seems to vanish because the rear illumination has overexposed that part of the image, generating a radiant circle, she adds. Although the feature's heading pairs nicely with Trump’s expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the person photographed."

Nobody enjoys being shot from underneath, and while all of the conceptual elements of the image are very strong, the appearance are not complimentary."

The news outlet reached out to Time magazine for a statement.