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It is a favorable feature in a publication that Donald Trump has long exalted – with one exception. The cover picture, the president decreed, ""could be the worst ever".

Time's paean to the president's involvement in mediating a Gaza ceasefire, featured on its November 10 cover, was presented alongside a image of the president taken from below and with the sun behind his head.

The result, Trump claims, is ""terrible".

"Time wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the photo may be the lowest quality in history", Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“They removed my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that resembled a hovering tiara, but an extremely small one. Truly strange! I always disliked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a extremely poor picture, and should be criticized. What is their intention, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown clear his wish to feature on Time magazine's front page and did so multiple times in the past year. The preoccupation has extended to his golf courses – in 2017, the magazine asked him to remove fabricated front pages on display at some of his properties.

The most recent cover image was shot by Graeme Sloane for Bloomberg at the presidential residence on the fifth of October.

Its angle was unflattering to the president's jawline and throat – a chance that California governor Newsom seized, with his press office sharing an altered image with the offending area blurred.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been released under the initial stage of Trump's ceasefire agreement, in exchange for a release of Palestinian detainees. This agreement could be a defining accomplishment of Trump's second term, and it might signify a pivotal moment for the Middle East.

At the same time, a defense of his portrayal has been offered by unusual quarters: the director of information at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs intervened to criticise the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

It's amazing: a photograph reveals far more about those who picked it than about the subject. Only disturbed individuals, people obsessed with malice and animosity –maybe even degenerates – could have selected such an image", Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that the same publication featured on the front, notwithstanding his health issues, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she noted.

The answer to the president's inquiries – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – might involve creatively capturing a feeling of authority stated by Carly Earl, a media professional.

The photograph technically technically is good," she says. "They picked this image because they wanted trump to look impressive. Gazing upward creates an impression of their importance and the president's visage actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It’s not often you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

The president's hair looks erased because the light from behind has washed out that area of the image, creating a halo effect, she says. And, while the feature's heading complements the president's look in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the individual in question."

Few people appreciate being captured from low angles, and while all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the aesthetics are not complimentary."

The publication approached the periodical for a statement.