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This is a positive article in a periodical that Donald Trump has frequently admired – with one exception. The front-page image, the president decreed, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time magazine's praise to the president's involvement in brokering a truce for Gaza, featured on its November 10 cover, was accompanied by a image of the president captured from underneath while the sun shining from the back.

The effect, Trump claims, is "super bad".

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

“My hair was erased, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a suspended diadem, but quite miniature. Really weird! I have consistently disliked being photographed from below, but this is a extremely poor image, and it merits criticism. What are they doing, and why?”

Trump has made clear his wish to feature on Time magazine's front page and achieved this four times last year. The preoccupation has made it as far as the president's resorts – in 2017, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers on display at a few of his establishments.

This issue's photograph was captured by Graeme Sloane for Bloomberg at the White House on the fifth of October.

The shot's viewpoint did no favours for Trump’s chin and neck – a chance that the governor of California Gavin Newsom took advantage of, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the problematic part blurred.

{The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been liberated under the initial stage of the president's diplomatic initiative, together with a Palestinian prisoner release. The deal could be a signature achievement of the president's renewed tenure, and it may represent a key shift for that part of the world.

Meanwhile, a defence of Trump's image has come from an unexpected source: the communications chief at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs came forward to condemn the "revealing" picture decision.

It's remarkable: a photograph says more about those who chose it than about the person in it. Only sick people, people obsessed with malice and hatred –possibly even deviants – could have picked this picture", Maria Zakharova posted on her social channel.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that that magazine featured on the front, despite his physical infirmity, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she added.

The response to his queries – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – could be related to artistically representing a feeling of authority says an imaging expert, an Australian publication's photo editor.

"The actual photo itself is well-executed," she notes. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look impressive. Gazing upward creates an impression of their importance and the president's visage actually looks thoughtful and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see photos of Trump in such a peaceful state – the photo appears gentle."

The president's hair appears to “disappear” because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, producing a glowing aura, she says. Although the article's title marries well with his facial expression in the image, "you can’t always please the person photographed."

Few people appreciate being shot from underneath, and although all of the thematic components of the image are highly effective, the appearance are not flattering."

The publication approached the magazine for a statement.