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It is a positive feature in a magazine that Donald Trump has long exalted – with one exception. The front-page image, he stated, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time's paean to Donald Trump's part in mediating a truce for Gaza, headlining its early November edition, was presented alongside a image of the president shot from a low angle while the sun positioned behind him.

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

"Time wrote a relatively good story about me, but the photo may be the most awful ever", he shared on Truth Social.

“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a floating crown, but very tiny. Truly strange! I have always hated being captured from low angles, but this is a super bad image, and it should be denounced. What are they doing, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown clear his wish to feature on Time magazine's front page and achieved this on four occasions in the previous year. The preoccupation has reached the president's resorts – in 2017, the publication requested to remove mocked up covers shown in a few of his establishments.

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

The perspective highlighted negatively his chin and neck area – an opportunity that the governor of California Newsom did not miss, with his communications team tweeting a version with the offending area obscured.

{The Israeli captives detained in Gaza have been released under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, alongside a Palestinian prisoner release. The arrangement could be a signature achievement of his next term, and it could mark a key shift for the Middle East.

At the same time, a defense of his portrayal has been offered by an unexpected source: the communications chief at Moscow's diplomatic office came forward to denounce the "damaging" photo selection.

"It’s astonishing: a image says more about those who selected it than about the person in it. Only disturbed individuals, people driven by hatred and resentment –perhaps even perverts – could have selected such an image", she wrote on her social channel.

Considering the favorable images of Biden that the periodical featured on the front, despite his physical infirmity, the situation is self-revealing for the magazine", she said.

The explanation for his queries – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – might involve artistically representing a impression of strength says an imaging expert, a media professional.

The image itself technically is good," she explains. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look impressive. Staring up at someone evokes a feeling of their grandeur and the president's visage actually looks contemplative and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the image has a softness to it."

Trump’s hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has bleached that section of the image, creating a halo effect, she says. Although the feature's heading pairs nicely with his facial expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the individual in question."

"No one likes being shot from underneath, and although all of the artistic aspects of the image are very strong, the visual appeal are unflattering."

The Guardian approached Time magazine for feedback.