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This is a positive feature in a publication that Donald Trump has long exalted – but for one catch. The cover picture, the president decreed, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's paean to Trump's role in brokering a Gaza ceasefire, headlining its early November edition, was accompanied by a photo of the president shot from a low angle and with the sun positioned behind him.

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

"The publication wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the photo may be the lowest quality in history", he shared on his preferred network.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was something floating my head that looked like a hovering crown, but very tiny. Really weird! I have consistently disliked being shot from underneath, but this is a super bad image, and it deserves to be called out. Why did they choose this, and why?”

The president has expressed clear his wish to be pictured on the cover of Time and accomplished it multiple times in the past year. The preoccupation has extended to the president's resorts – years ago, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers on display at several of his venues.

The latest edition’s photo was shot by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on the fifth of October.

Its angle highlighted negatively his chin and neck area – an opening that California governor Newsom seized, with his press office posting a modified photo with the criticized section pixelated.

{The Israeli captives in Gaza have been released under the first phase of Trump's ceasefire agreement, together with a release of Palestinian detainees. The arrangement could be a major success of the president's renewed tenure, and it could mark a key shift for the Middle East.

Simultaneously, a defence of the president’s appearance has been offered by an unexpected source: the communications chief at the Russian foreign ministry stepped in to condemn the "damaging" picture decision.

It's remarkable: a image reveals far more about those who chose it than about the person in it. Just unwell persons, people driven by hatred and hatred –perhaps even perverts – could have picked this picture", the official wrote on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that the same publication featured on the front, despite his physical infirmity, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she added.

The answer to his queries – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – could be related to innovatively depicting a sense of power stated by an imaging expert, an Australian publication's photo editor.

"The actual photo itself technically is good," she notes. "They picked this image because they wanted Trump to look heroic. Looking up at a person evokes a feeling of their importance and Trump’s face actually looks thoughtful and almost somewhat divine. It's uncommon you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the picture feels tender."

Trump’s hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, creating a halo effect, she explains. Even though the feature's heading complements his facial expression in the image, "you can’t always please the subject matter."

Few people appreciate being captured from low angles, and even if all of the conceptual elements of the image are quite powerful, the appearance are not complimentary."

The news outlet approached the periodical for feedback.