🔗 Share this article

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

Time magazine's praise to Donald Trump's part in mediating a truce for Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was paired with a photograph of Trump taken from below and with the sun behind his head.

The outcome, Trump claims, is ""extremely poor".

"Time wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the image may be the Worst of All Time", Trump wrote on his preferred network.

“They removed my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, 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 is their intention, and why?”

Trump has made no secret of his desire to feature on Time’s cover and did so on four occasions in the previous year. The obsession has made it as far as Trump’s golf clubs – previously, the publication requested to remove fake issues on display at a few of his establishments.

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

The shot's viewpoint was unflattering to the president's jawline and throat – a chance that California governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his communications team tweeting a version with the problematic part obscured.

{The hostages from Israel held in Gaza have been liberated under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a Palestinian prisoner release. This agreement may become a signature achievement of his next term, and it may represent a strategic turning point for the region.

Meanwhile, a defence of Trump's image has been offered by a surprising origin: the director of information at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to denounce the "self-incriminating" photo selection.

It's amazing: a photograph says more about those who selected it than about the person in it. Just unwell persons, people obsessed with malice and resentment –maybe even degenerates – could have chosen such a photo", the official shared on the messaging platform.

In light of the positive pictures of Biden that the same publication featured on the front, notwithstanding his health issues, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she said.

The response to Trump’s questions – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to creatively capturing a feeling of authority stated by Carly Earl, an Australian publication's photo editor.

The image itself is professionally taken," she explains. "They picked this image because they wanted Trump to look impressive. Staring up at someone creates an impression of their importance and the president's visage actually looks thoughtful and almost a bit ethereal. It’s not often you see photos of Trump in such a calm instance – the photo appears gentle."

The president's hair seems to vanish because the rear illumination has washed out that area of the image, generating a radiant circle, she explains. And, while the article's title pairs nicely with his facial expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the subject matter."

"No one likes being captured from low angles, and although all of the artistic aspects of the image are highly effective, the visual appeal are unflattering."

The Guardian reached out to the magazine for a statement.