'The worst of all time': Trump lashes out at Time magazine's 'extremely poor' cover picture.

It is a favorable story in a periodical that the president has consistently praised – but for one catch. The magazine's cover photo, Trump declared, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's paean to the president's involvement in facilitating a ceasefire in Gaza, headlining its early November edition, was paired with a image of Trump taken from below while the sun positioned behind him.

The result, the president asserts, is "super bad".

"The publication wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the image may be the most awful ever", the president posted on his social media platform.

“My hair was obscured, and then there was an object above my head that seemed like a hovering crown, but extremely small. Very odd! I have never liked being captured from low angles, but this is a super bad image, and it merits criticism. What are they doing, and why?”

Trump has made no secret of his desire to be pictured on Time magazine's front page and did so on four occasions in the previous year. This fixation has extended to Trump’s golf clubs – in 2017, the magazine asked him to remove fabricated front pages on display at some of his properties.

The latest edition’s photo was captured by Graeme Sloane for Bloomberg at the presidential residence on 5 October.

The perspective did no favours for his chin and neck area – an opportunity that California governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the problematic part obscured.

{The Israeli captives held in Gaza have been freed under the initial stage of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. This agreement may become a defining accomplishment of the president's renewed tenure, and it could mark a key shift for the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a defense of Trump's image has been offered by a surprising origin: the director of information at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to denounce the "damaging" picture decision.

It's remarkable: a photo exposes those who picked it than about the subject. Only sick people, people obsessed with malice and hatred –possibly even deviants – could have chosen such a photo", she shared on her social channel.

In light of the positive pictures of President Biden that that magazine featured on the front, despite his physical infirmity, the case is self-damaging for Time", she said.

The explanation for the president's inquiries – what did the editors intend, and why? – could be related to innovatively depicting a sense of power according to Carly Earl, an Australian publication's photo editor.

"The actual photo itself technically is good," she notes. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look commanding. Staring up at someone evokes a feeling of their importance and the president's visage actually looks thoughtful and almost a bit ethereal. It’s not often you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

His hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, creating a halo effect, she adds. Even though the story’s headline pairs nicely with the president's look in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the subject matter."

Nobody enjoys being photographed from below, and although all of the artistic aspects of the image are very strong, the aesthetics are unflattering."

The Guardian contacted the periodical for a statement.