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It is a favorable story in a magazine that Donald Trump has consistently praised – but for one catch. The cover picture, the president decreed, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time's paean to Donald Trump's part in mediating a Gaza ceasefire, featured on its November 10 cover, was presented alongside a photo of Trump taken from below and with the sun shining from the back.

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

"The publication wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the most awful ever", the president posted on Truth Social.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a hovering tiara, but an very tiny one. Truly strange! I consistently avoided taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a extremely poor picture, and merits public condemnation. Why did they do this, and why?”

Trump has made clear his wish to appear on the cover of Time and did so multiple times in the past year. This fixation has made it as far as Trump’s golf clubs – years ago, the editors demanded to remove fabricated front pages exhibited in a few of his establishments.

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

The shot's viewpoint highlighted negatively the president's jawline and throat – an opportunity that California governor Newsom seized, with his communications team sharing an altered image with the criticized section pixelated.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been liberated under the initial stage of Trump's ceasefire agreement, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. The deal could be a defining accomplishment of Trump's second term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for the Middle East.

At the same time, a defence of Trump's image has been offered by an unexpected source: the director of information at the Russian foreign ministry stepped in to criticise the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

It's remarkable: a image says more about those who picked it than about the person in it. Only disturbed individuals, people obsessed with malice and hatred –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", she posted on the messaging platform.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that the periodical displayed on the cover, even with his age-related challenges, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she noted.

The answer to Trump’s questions – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to artistically representing a impression of strength according to an imaging expert, a media professional.

The image itself technically is good," she notes. "They chose this shot because they wanted Trump to look impressive. Staring up at someone creates an impression of their grandeur and his expression actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It's uncommon you see pictures of him in such a calm instance – the picture feels tender."

Trump’s hair looks erased because the sunlight behind him has washed out that area of the image, generating a radiant circle, she says. Even though the article's title complements Trump’s expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the subject matter."

"No one likes being shot from underneath, and even if all of the artistic aspects of the image are very strong, the aesthetics are not complimentary."

The Guardian contacted the periodical for feedback.