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It is a glowing feature in a magazine that Donald Trump has frequently admired – but for one catch. The front-page image, he stated, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time's paean to the president's involvement in facilitating a Gaza ceasefire, leading its 10 November issue, was presented alongside a photo of the president captured from underneath while the sun shining from the back.

The outcome, Trump claims, is ""extremely poor".

"The publication wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the photo may be the lowest quality in history", he shared on his social media platform.

“My hair was obscured, and then there was something floating my head that looked like a hovering crown, but extremely small. Really weird! I have consistently disliked being photographed from below, but this is a extremely poor image, and it should be denounced. Why did they choose this, and why?”

Trump has made no secret of his desire to appear on Time’s cover and did so four times last year. The obsession has extended to his golf courses – previously, the editors demanded to remove fake issues on display at a few of his establishments.

This issue's photograph was taken by Graeme Sloane for Bloomberg at the presidential residence on the fifth of October.

The shot's viewpoint was unflattering to Trump’s chin and neck – an opportunity that the governor of California Newsom did not miss, with his press office sharing an altered image with the offending area obscured.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been released under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. This agreement may become a major success of his next term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for the Middle East.

At the same time, a defense of the president’s appearance has been offered by unusual quarters: the spokesperson at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs came forward to condemn the "revealing" photo selection.

It's remarkable: a photo exposes those who chose it than about the subject. Only sick people, people obsessed with malice and resentment –possibly even deviants – could have picked this picture", Maria Zakharova posted on her social channel.

"And given the complimentary photos of President Biden that the same publication used on the cover, even with his age-related challenges, the situation is self-revealing for the publication", she added.

The answer to Trump’s questions – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – might involve artistically representing a feeling of authority stated by Carly Earl, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

"The actual photo itself is well-executed," she explains. "They chose this shot because they wanted Trump to look heroic. Looking up at a person evokes a feeling of their majesty and the president's visage actually looks contemplative and almost somewhat divine. It’s not often you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – the image has a softness to it."

His hair appears to “disappear” because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, producing a glowing aura, she explains. And, while the story’s headline pairs nicely with the president's look in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the person photographed."

"No one likes being photographed from below, and while all of the artistic aspects of the image are quite powerful, the appearance are not flattering."

The news outlet reached out to the magazine for comment.