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This is a positive feature in a periodical that Trump has frequently admired – but for one catch. The front-page image, he stated, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's paean to Trump's role in facilitating a truce for Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was paired with a photo of the president captured from underneath and with the sun shining from the back.

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

"The publication wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the photo may be the most awful ever", Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was an object above my head that seemed like a floating crown, but extremely small. Really weird! I have consistently disliked being captured from low angles, but this is a extremely poor image, and it should be denounced. What are they doing, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown clear his wish to be pictured on Time’s cover and did so four times last year. The obsession has extended to Trump’s golf clubs – previously, the magazine asked him to remove fake issues exhibited in several of his venues.

The most recent cover image was shot by Graeme Sloane for a news agency at the presidential residence on 5 October.

Its angle did no favours for the president's jawline and throat – an opportunity that California governor Newsom took advantage of, with his press office posting a modified photo with the criticized section blurred.

{The Israeli captives in Gaza have been released under the first phase of the president's diplomatic initiative, together with a release of Palestinian detainees. The deal could be a defining accomplishment of the president's renewed tenure, and it might signify a pivotal moment for the Middle East.

Simultaneously, a defense of Trump's image has emerged from an unexpected source: the spokesperson at the Russian foreign ministry intervened to criticise the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

It's remarkable: a image exposes those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Just unwell persons, people filled with spite and resentment –possibly even deviants – could have chosen such a photo", Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that the same publication displayed on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the situation is self-revealing for the magazine", she added.

The answer to the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – might involve innovatively depicting a feeling of authority says Carly Earl, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The photograph technically is well-executed," she explains. "They chose this shot because they wanted trump to look impressive. Looking up at a person gives a sense of their importance and Trump’s face actually looks contemplative and almost slightly angelic. It’s not often you see pictures of him in such a calm instance – the picture feels tender."

The president's hair seems to vanish because the light from behind has washed out that area of the image, creating a halo effect, she says. Even though the feature's heading marries well with his facial expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the person photographed."

"No one likes being captured from low angles, and although all of the thematic components of the image are quite powerful, the visual appeal are not flattering."

The Guardian contacted Time magazine for a statement.