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This is a positive story in a publication that the president has long exalted – except for one issue. The cover picture, Trump declared, ""might be the most terrible in history".

Time magazine's paean to Donald Trump's part in mediating a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was accompanied by a image of the president shot from a low angle and with the sun positioned behind him.

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

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the image may be the most awful ever", Trump wrote on his social media platform.

“My hair was obscured, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a suspended diadem, but very tiny. Truly strange! I have consistently disliked being captured from low angles, but this is a extremely poor image, and it deserves to be called out. What are they doing, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown no secret of his desire to appear on the cover of Time and accomplished it multiple times in the past year. This fixation has extended to the president's resorts – in 2017, the magazine asked him to remove mocked up covers on display at some of his properties.

The most recent cover image was taken by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on 5 October.

The shot's viewpoint did no favours for the president's jawline and throat – an opening that California governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his press office posting a modified photo with the offending area obscured.

{The Israeli captives held in Gaza have been released under the initial stage of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The arrangement may become a defining accomplishment of his next term, and it might signify a key shift for the region.

Simultaneously, a defence of the president’s appearance has emerged from unusual quarters: the spokesperson at Moscow's diplomatic office came forward to denounce the "self-incriminating" image choice.

It's amazing: a image exposes those who picked it than about the person in it. Only disturbed individuals, people driven by hatred and hatred –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", the official posted on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that the periodical featured on the front, even with his age-related challenges, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she added.

The response to his queries – why did they choose this, and why? – might involve creatively capturing a feeling of authority says an imaging expert, a media professional.

"The actual photo itself is professionally taken," she notes. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look heroic. Looking up at a person gives a sense of their grandeur and the president's visage actually looks thoughtful and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

The president's hair seems to vanish because the rear illumination has overexposed that part of the image, generating a radiant circle, she says. And, while the article's title marries well with the president's look in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the subject matter."

Nobody enjoys being shot from underneath, and even if all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the appearance are unflattering."

The news outlet approached the periodical for comment.