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It is a favorable article in a magazine that Donald Trump has frequently admired – with one exception. The cover picture, the president decreed, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's tribute to Donald Trump's part in mediating a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was presented alongside a photograph of Trump shot from a low angle and with the sun positioned behind him.

The outcome, Trump claims, is "super bad".

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

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that resembled a suspended coronet, but an extremely small one. Truly strange! I always disliked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a super bad picture, and merits public condemnation. Why did they do this, and why?”

Trump has made clear his wish to be pictured on Time magazine's front page and achieved this multiple times in the past year. This fixation has reached his golf courses – in 2017, the editors demanded to remove fake issues on display at some of his properties.

This issue's photograph was taken by a photographer for Bloomberg at the presidential residence on 5 October.

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

{The hostages from Israel in Gaza have been released under the opening part of Donald Trump's peace plan, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The arrangement might turn into a defining accomplishment of the president's renewed tenure, and it could mark a strategic turning point for that part of the world.

At the same time, a defence of Trump's image has been offered by unusual quarters: the director of information at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs came forward to denounce the "revealing" photo selection.

It's remarkable: a photograph says more about those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Just unwell persons, people obsessed with malice and animosity –possibly even deviants – could have picked this picture", Maria Zakharova wrote on the messaging platform.

Considering the favorable images of Biden that the periodical used on the cover, even with his age-related challenges, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she noted.

The answer to the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to artistically representing a impression of strength according to a picture editor, a media professional.

The image itself technically is good," she notes. "They chose this shot because they wanted trump to look heroic. Looking up at a person gives a sense of their importance and Trump’s face actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It’s not often you see images of the president in such a calm instance – the picture feels tender."

His hair appears to “disappear” because the sunlight behind him has washed out that area of the image, generating a radiant circle, she says. Although the feature's heading marries well with Trump’s expression in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the subject matter."

"No one likes being captured from low angles, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are very strong, the aesthetics are not flattering."

The Guardian approached Time magazine for comment.