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It is a favorable article in a magazine that the president has frequently admired – with one exception. The magazine's cover photo, the president decreed, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time's praise to Trump's role in mediating a Gaza ceasefire, headlining its early November edition, was presented alongside a photograph of the president shot from a low angle while the sun shining from the back.

The effect, he says, is "super bad".

"The publication wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the photo may be the Worst of All Time", he shared on his preferred network.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was a shape over my head that looked like a hovering crown, but extremely small. Very odd! I have consistently disliked being captured from low angles, but this is a extremely poor image, and it merits criticism. Why did they choose this, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to appear on Time magazine's front page and achieved this on four occasions in the previous year. The obsession has extended to his golf courses – in 2017, the publication requested to remove fake issues on display at some of his properties.

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

The perspective highlighted negatively his chin and neck area – an opening that the governor of California Newsom took advantage of, with his communications team tweeting a version with the criticized section pixelated.

{The hostages from Israel held in Gaza have been released under the initial stage of Trump's ceasefire agreement, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The arrangement could be a major success of his next term, and it might signify a pivotal moment for the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a support for his portrayal has emerged from unusual quarters: the communications chief at the Russian foreign ministry intervened to criticise the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

It's amazing: a image exposes those who picked it than about the subject. Only sick people, people obsessed with malice and animosity –perhaps even perverts – could have picked this picture", Maria Zakharova posted on her social channel.

Considering the favorable images of Biden that that magazine featured on the front, notwithstanding his health issues, the case is self-damaging for the magazine", she said.

The answer to the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to artistically representing a sense of power says an imaging expert, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The photograph technically is professionally taken," she says. "They chose this shot because they wanted the president to look heroic. Staring up at someone evokes a feeling of their majesty and Trump’s face actually looks reflective and almost a bit ethereal. It's rare you see images of the president in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

The president's hair looks erased because the rear illumination has bleached that section of the image, generating a radiant circle, she explains. Although the article's title 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 even if all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the visual appeal are not flattering."

The news outlet approached Time magazine for a statement.