'The all-time low': Donald Trump criticizes Time's 'extremely poor' cover image.

It is a favorable feature in a magazine that the president has consistently praised – except for one issue. The magazine's cover photo, Trump declared, "may be the Worst of All Time".

Time magazine's paean to the president's involvement in brokering a ceasefire in Gaza, featured on its November 10 cover, was paired with a photograph of the president shot from a low angle while the sun shining from the back.

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

"Time Magazine wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the lowest quality in history", he shared on his social media platform.

“They eliminated my hair, and then had an object hovering on top of my head that appeared as a hovering tiara, but an remarkably little one. Quite bizarre! I consistently avoided taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a super bad picture, and merits public condemnation. What are they doing, and why?”

Donald Trump has shown no secret of his desire to be pictured on the cover of Time and achieved this multiple times in the past year. This fixation has extended to the president's resorts – in 2017, the editors demanded to remove mocked up covers exhibited in several of his venues.

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

The perspective did no favours for his chin and neck area – a chance that California governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his communications team sharing an altered image with the offending area blurred.

{The hostages from Israel in Gaza have been released under the initial stage of Donald Trump's peace plan, alongside a release of Palestinian detainees. This agreement could be a signature achievement of the president's renewed tenure, and it could mark a pivotal moment for the region.

At the same time, a defense of Trump's image has been offered by unusual quarters: the communications chief at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs stepped in to condemn the "self-incriminating" picture decision.

It's remarkable: a image says more about those who chose it than about the person in it. Only disturbed individuals, people driven by hatred and hatred –maybe even degenerates – could have picked this picture", she shared on Telegram.

"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that the periodical used on the cover, even with his age-related challenges, the story is simply self-incriminating for Time", she said.

The response to his queries – what did the editors intend, and why? – might involve innovatively depicting a feeling of authority says an imaging expert, a media professional.

The photograph technically is well-executed," she notes. "They chose this shot because they wanted the president to look impressive. Gazing upward evokes a feeling of their grandeur and the president's visage actually looks reflective and almost somewhat divine. It's rare you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."

The president's hair appears to “disappear” because the rear illumination has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she says. And, while the article's title complements his facial expression in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the subject matter."

Few people appreciate being captured from low angles, and although all of the artistic aspects of the image are quite powerful, the aesthetics are not flattering."

The publication contacted the periodical for comment.

Dana Hawkins
Dana Hawkins

A cybersecurity specialist with over a decade of experience in software patching and vulnerability management.