🔗 Share this article

It is a positive story in a magazine that Trump has long exalted – but for one catch. The front-page image, he stated, ""could be the worst ever".

Time's tribute to the president's involvement in facilitating a ceasefire in Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was accompanied by a photograph of the president shot from a low angle and with the sun behind his head.

The effect, he says, is ""extremely poor".

"Time Magazine wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the photo may be the Worst of All Time", he shared on Truth Social.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a suspended diadem, but extremely small. Really weird! I have never liked being captured from low angles, but this is a super bad image, and it should be denounced. What is their goal, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown clear his wish to feature on Time’s cover and accomplished it multiple times in the past year. This fixation has extended to the president's resorts – previously, the magazine asked him to remove mocked up covers exhibited in some of his properties.

The most recent cover image was shot by a photographer for Bloomberg at the presidential residence on October 5.

Its angle did no favours for the president's jawline and throat – a chance that California governor Newsom took advantage of, with his press office posting a modified photo with the problematic part pixelated.

{The hostages from Israel detained in Gaza have been liberated under the initial stage of Trump's ceasefire agreement, 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 Middle East.

At the same time, a defence of Trump's image has been offered by a surprising origin: the director of information at Moscow's diplomatic office intervened to criticise the "damaging" photo selection.

It's remarkable: a photo exposes those who chose it than about the individual pictured. Just unwell persons, people filled with spite and animosity –maybe even degenerates – could have picked this picture", she posted on her social channel.

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

The response to Trump’s questions – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – might involve creatively capturing a sense of power stated by an imaging expert, a media professional.

The image itself is professionally taken," she notes. "They chose this shot because they wanted Trump to look impressive. Gazing upward evokes a feeling of their grandeur and Trump’s face actually looks reflective and almost slightly angelic. It’s not often you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – the picture feels tender."

Trump’s hair appears to “disappear” because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she explains. Even though the story’s headline pairs nicely with the president's look in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the individual in question."

Nobody enjoys being shot from underneath, and although all of the artistic aspects of the image are quite powerful, the aesthetics are unflattering."

The Guardian contacted Time magazine for comment.