It is a glowing feature in a periodical that Trump has long exalted – with one exception. The front-page image, Trump declared, ""might be the most terrible in history".
Time magazine's praise to the president's involvement in mediating a truce for Gaza, headlining its early November edition, was accompanied by a photo of the president taken from below and with the sun behind his head.
The result, Trump claims, is "super bad".
"The publication wrote a relatively good story about me, but the image may be the Worst of All Time", he shared on his preferred network.
“My hair was ‘disappeared’, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a suspended diadem, but quite miniature. Really weird! I have always hated being shot from underneath, but this is a extremely poor image, and it merits criticism. What are they doing, and why?”
Donald Trump has shown no secret of his desire to feature on Time’s cover and accomplished it four times last year. The obsession has extended to Trump’s golf clubs – years ago, the magazine asked him to remove mocked up covers exhibited in some of his properties.
The most recent cover image was captured by Graeme Sloane for a news agency at the presidential residence on 5 October.
The perspective did no favours for his chin and neck area – a chance that the governor of California Gavin Newsom took advantage of, with his press office tweeting a version with the offending area blurred.
{The living Israeli hostages in Gaza have been released under the opening part of Trump's ceasefire agreement, in exchange for a release of Palestinian detainees. The deal may become a major success of the president's renewed tenure, and it might signify a key shift for the Middle East.
Simultaneously, a defence of Trump's image has emerged from unusual quarters: the spokesperson at the Russian foreign ministry intervened to criticise the "damaging" image choice.
It's amazing: a photograph says more about those who selected it than about the individual pictured. Only disturbed individuals, people obsessed with malice and animosity –maybe even degenerates – could have picked this picture", the official wrote on the messaging platform.
In light of the positive pictures of President Biden that the periodical displayed on the cover, despite his physical infirmity, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she noted.
The response to Trump’s questions – why did they choose this, and why? – might involve artistically representing a feeling of authority according to an imaging expert, a media professional.
"The actual photo itself is professionally taken," she explains. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look heroic. Gazing upward evokes a feeling of their grandeur and Trump’s face actually looks thoughtful and almost a bit ethereal. It's rare you see photos of Trump in such a peaceful state – the image has a softness to it."
His hair looks erased because the sunlight behind him has overexposed that part of the image, producing a glowing aura, she adds. Even though the feature's heading complements his facial expression in the image, "it's impossible to satisfy the individual in question."
"No one likes being photographed from below, and although all of the thematic components of the image are very strong, the aesthetics are not flattering."
The news outlet contacted the periodical for feedback.
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