🔗 Share this article

This is a glowing article in a magazine that Donald Trump has long exalted – except for one issue. The magazine's cover photo, he stated, ""could be the worst ever".

Time's praise to Trump's role in facilitating a Gaza ceasefire, headlining its early November edition, was paired with a image of the president taken from below while the sun shining from the back.

The effect, he says, is "super bad".

"The publication wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the photo may be the most awful ever", he shared on his preferred network.

“They removed my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that looked like a suspended coronet, but an extremely small one. Truly strange! I consistently avoided taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a terrible picture, and merits public condemnation. What are they doing, and why?”

The president has expressed no secret of his desire to be pictured on Time magazine's front page and accomplished it multiple times in the past year. The preoccupation has reached his golf courses – years ago, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers shown in some of his properties.

This issue's photograph was taken by Graeme Sloane for a news agency at the presidential residence on 5 October.

The perspective highlighted negatively Trump’s chin and neck – an opening that California governor Newsom did not miss, with his press office tweeting a version with the criticized section pixelated.

{The Israeli captives in Gaza have been released under the opening part of Trump's ceasefire agreement, together with a Palestinian prisoner release. The arrangement could be a signature achievement of his next term, and it could mark a pivotal moment for the region.

At the same time, a defence of the president’s appearance has emerged from unusual quarters: the spokesperson at the Russian foreign ministry came forward to denounce the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

It's amazing: a photo exposes those who chose it than about the person in it. Just unwell persons, people driven by hatred and hatred –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that that magazine used on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the situation is self-revealing for the magazine", she said.

The answer to his queries – what did the editors intend, and why? – could be related to artistically representing a sense of power says Carly Earl, a media professional.

"The actual photo itself is professionally taken," she explains. "They selected this photo because they wanted Trump to look heroic. Gazing upward creates an impression of their grandeur and the president's visage actually looks reflective and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see images of the president in such a peaceful state – the photo appears gentle."

His hair seems to vanish because the sunlight behind him has overexposed that part of the image, generating a radiant circle, she explains. And, while the story’s headline complements his facial expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the individual in question."

Few people appreciate being shot from underneath, and while all of the artistic aspects of the image are very strong, the aesthetics are not flattering."

The publication approached Time magazine for feedback.