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It is a positive story in a publication that Trump has frequently admired – except for one issue. The magazine's cover photo, Trump declared, ""could be the worst ever".

Time's tribute to Donald Trump's part in facilitating a ceasefire in Gaza, headlining its early November edition, was paired with a image of the president shot from a low angle while the sun behind his head.

The result, he says, is ""terrible".

"Time Magazine wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the image may be the lowest quality in history", the president posted on his social media platform.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that resembled a floating crown, but an very tiny one. Quite bizarre! I consistently avoided taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a super bad picture, and deserves to be called out. What are they doing, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to be pictured on the cover of Time and achieved this on four occasions in the previous year. The preoccupation has reached his golf courses – previously, the magazine asked him to remove fake issues on display at a few of his establishments.

The latest edition’s photo was captured by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on October 5.

Its angle highlighted negatively the president's jawline and throat – a chance that California governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his communications team sharing an altered image with the offending area pixelated.

{The Israeli captives detained in Gaza have been released under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, together with a Palestinian prisoner release. The deal could be a defining accomplishment of his next term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for that part of the world.

At the same time, a support for the president’s appearance has emerged from unusual quarters: the communications chief at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to criticise the "revealing" photo selection.

It's amazing: a photo says more about those who picked it than about the person in it. Just unwell persons, people obsessed with malice and resentment –possibly even deviants – could have chosen such a photo", she wrote on her social channel.

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

The response to the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – may be something to do with innovatively depicting a impression of strength stated by Carly Earl, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The image itself is professionally taken," she says. "They chose this shot because they wanted trump to look impressive. Staring up at someone creates an impression of their majesty and the president's visage actually looks thoughtful and almost a bit ethereal. It's uncommon you see photos of Trump in such a calm instance – the picture feels tender."

Trump’s hair appears to “disappear” because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, generating a radiant circle, she explains. Even though the article's title complements Trump’s expression in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the person photographed."

"No one likes being shot from underneath, and while all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the appearance are unflattering."

The Guardian contacted Time magazine for a statement.