‘The worst of all time’: Trump rails against ‘super bad’ Time magazine cover | Donald Trump

It’s a glowing story in a publication that Donald Trump has long exalted — but just once. The cover photo, the president decreed, “might be the worst ever.”

Time magazine’s praise of Trump’s role in brokering a ceasefire in Gaza, at the top of its November 10 issue, was accompanied by a photo of the president taken from below with the sun behind his head.

The result, he says, is “super bad.”

“Time Magazine wrote a relatively good story on me, but the photo may be the worst ever,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“They made my hair ‘disappear’, then floated something above my head that looked like a floating crown, but extremely small. Really weird! I’ve never liked taking photos from angles, but this is a really bad photo and deserves to be reported. What are they doing and why?”

Trump has made no secret of his desire to appear on the cover of Time and did so four times last year. This obsession has spread to Trump’s golf clubs: in 2017, the magazine asked him to remove fake covers displayed at some of his properties.

The latest edition photo was taken by Graeme Sloane for Bloomberg at the White House on October 5.

Its angle did not favor Trump’s chin and neck — an opportunity that California Governor Gavin Newsom did not miss, with his press office tweeting a version with the offending area pixelated.

Meanwhile, defense of the president’s appearance has come from unusual sources: the Russian Foreign Ministry’s information director stepped in to criticize the choice of a “self-incriminating” image.

“It’s amazing: a photograph reveals much more about those who chose it than about the person in it. Only sick people, obsessed with malice and hatred – maybe even perverts – could have chosen such a photo,” Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.

“And given the glowing photos of Biden that the same publication used on its cover, despite his physical infirmity, the story is nothing short of self-incriminating for Time,” she said.

The answer to Trump’s questions: What were Time editors doing and why? – may have something to do with creatively capturing a sense of power, says Guardian Australia images editor Carly Earl.

“Technically, the photo itself is good,” she says. “They chose this image because they wanted Trump to look heroic. Looking at someone gives you a sense of his greatness and Trump’s face actually seems contemplative and almost slightly angelic. It’s not often you see photos of Trump in such a serene moment – ​​the image has a softness.”

Trump’s hair appears to “disappear” because the sunlight behind him has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she says. And, while the story’s title pairs well with Trump’s expression in the image, “you can’t always please the subject.”

“No one likes to be photographed from below, and although all the conceptual elements of the image are very strong, the aesthetic is not flattering.”

The Guardian has contacted Time magazine for comment.