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It is a glowing feature in a periodical that Donald Trump has consistently praised – except for one issue. The front-page image, he stated, ""could be the worst ever".

Time's tribute to Donald Trump's part in mediating a truce for Gaza, leading its 10 November issue, was presented alongside a photograph of the president shot from a low angle while the sun behind his head.

The result, Trump claims, is ""terrible".

"The publication wrote a quite favorable story about me, but the image may be the most awful ever", he shared on his preferred network.

“They eliminated my hair, and then had a shape drifting on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one. Really weird! I never liked taking pictures from low perspectives, but this is a terrible picture, and should be criticized. What is their intention, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown no secret of his desire to feature on Time magazine's front page and accomplished it multiple times in the past year. The preoccupation has extended to Trump’s golf clubs – years ago, the editors demanded to remove fabricated front pages exhibited in several of his venues.

The latest edition’s photo was shot by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on 5 October.

The perspective highlighted negatively his chin and neck area – a chance that California governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with the governor's office tweeting a version with the offending area blurred.

{The hostages from Israel in Gaza have been released under the opening part of the president's diplomatic initiative, together with a freeing of Palestinian inmates. The deal could be a major success of his next term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for the Middle East.

Meanwhile, a support for Trump's image has emerged from a surprising origin: the director of information at Moscow's diplomatic office came forward to criticise the "damaging" image choice.

It's remarkable: a image reveals far more about those who picked it than about the individual pictured. Only sick people, people driven by hatred and animosity –possibly even deviants – could have selected such an image", the official wrote on her social channel.

In light of the positive pictures of Biden that the same publication used on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the situation is self-revealing for the publication", she said.

The response to the president's inquiries – why did they choose this, and why? – may be something to do with innovatively depicting a feeling of authority says Carly Earl, Guardian Australia’s picture editor.

The image itself is professionally taken," she says. "They chose this shot because they wanted Trump to look commanding. Gazing upward gives a sense of their majesty and Trump’s face actually looks reflective and almost slightly angelic. It's uncommon you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the image has a softness to it."

His hair appears to “disappear” because the sunlight behind him has overexposed that part of the image, generating a radiant circle, she says. Even though the feature's heading marries well with the president's look in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the subject matter."

Nobody enjoys being photographed from below, and even if all of the artistic aspects of the image are very strong, the aesthetics are unflattering."

The Guardian approached the periodical for feedback.