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This is a positive feature in a periodical that Donald Trump has frequently admired – with one exception. The magazine's cover photo, Trump declared, ""could be the worst ever".

Time's tribute to Trump's role in brokering a Gaza ceasefire, headlining its early November edition, was paired with a photo of the president captured from underneath while the sun shining from the back.

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

"The publication wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the picture may be the lowest quality in history", he shared on his preferred network.

“They removed my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that appeared as a floating crown, but an remarkably little one. Quite bizarre! I consistently avoided taking pictures from below viewpoints, but this is a super bad picture, and merits public condemnation. Why did they do this, and why?”

Trump has made no secret of his desire to be pictured on Time magazine's front page and did so multiple times in the past year. The preoccupation has reached his golf courses – previously, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers on display at some of his properties.

The latest edition’s photo was shot by a photographer for Bloomberg at the presidential residence on 5 October.

The perspective did no favours for Trump’s chin and neck – an opening that California governor Newsom seized, with his press office sharing an altered image with the criticized section pixelated.

{The living Israeli hostages detained in Gaza have been freed under the first phase of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. This agreement might turn into a defining accomplishment of Trump's second term, and it might signify a key shift for the region.

Simultaneously, a defence of the president’s appearance has come from an unexpected source: the communications chief at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to criticise the "damaging" image choice.

It's amazing: a image exposes those who selected it than about the person in it. Only disturbed individuals, people filled with spite and resentment –maybe even degenerates – could have chosen such a photo", the official posted on the messaging platform.

Considering the favorable images of President Biden that that magazine used on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she said.

The explanation for his queries – why did they choose this, and why? – may be something to do with creatively capturing a sense of power says Carly Earl, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

"The actual photo itself technically is good," she explains. "They chose this shot because they wanted Trump to look heroic. Gazing upward gives a sense of their grandeur and the president's visage actually looks thoughtful and almost slightly angelic. It’s not often you see images of the president in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

Trump’s hair seems to vanish because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, creating a halo effect, she says. Even though the article's title marries well with the president's look in the image, "you can’t always please the person photographed."

Few people appreciate being shot from underneath, and while all of the thematic components of the image are highly effective, the appearance are not flattering."

The Guardian reached out to the magazine for feedback.