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This is a positive story in a periodical that Donald Trump has frequently admired – but for one catch. The magazine's cover photo, he stated, ""could be the worst ever".

Time magazine's paean to the president's involvement in mediating a truce for Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was presented alongside a image of Trump taken from below and with the sun positioned behind him.

The result, the president asserts, is "super bad".

"Time wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the image may be the Worst of All Time", he shared on his social media platform.

“They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that resembled a floating crown, but an very tiny one. Really weird! I consistently avoided taking pictures from below viewpoints, but this is a super bad picture, and should be criticized. Why did they do this, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown obvious his ambition to feature on the cover of Time and achieved this on four occasions in the previous year. The obsession has reached the president's resorts – in 2017, the editors demanded to remove fake issues on display at several of his venues.

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

The shot's viewpoint highlighted negatively Trump’s chin and neck – a chance that the governor of California Gavin Newsom seized, with his communications team posting a modified photo with the offending area blurred.

{The hostages from Israel in Gaza have been freed under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. The deal could be a signature achievement of the president's renewed tenure, and it might signify a strategic turning point for that part of the world.

Meanwhile, a defence of his portrayal has been offered by an unexpected source: the spokesperson at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to criticise the "damaging" image choice.

It's amazing: a image says more about those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Just unwell persons, people filled with spite and animosity –maybe even degenerates – could have chosen such a photo", she shared on her social channel.

In light of the positive pictures of President Biden that the periodical displayed on the cover, even with his age-related challenges, the story is simply self-incriminating for the publication", she noted.

The response to Trump’s questions – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – could be related to artistically representing a impression of strength stated by Carly Earl, an Australian publication's photo editor.

"The actual photo itself is professionally taken," she explains. "They chose this shot because they wanted trump to look heroic. Gazing upward gives a sense of their grandeur and his expression actually looks contemplative and almost a bit ethereal. It’s not often you see images of the president in such a calm instance – the image has a softness to it."

Trump’s hair seems to vanish because the sunlight behind him has bleached that section of the image, producing a glowing aura, she adds. Even though the feature's heading pairs nicely with Trump’s expression in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the person photographed."

"No one likes being captured from low angles, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are quite powerful, the visual appeal are not complimentary."

The Guardian reached out to Time magazine for a statement.