'The worst of all time': Trump criticizes Time's 'extremely poor' cover picture.
This is a favorable story in a magazine that the president has long exalted – with one exception. The cover picture, the president decreed, ""could be the worst ever".
Time magazine's tribute to Trump's role in facilitating a Gaza ceasefire, featured on its November 10 cover, was presented alongside a image of Trump shot from a low angle while the sun shining from the back.
The outcome, Trump claims, is "super bad".
"Time Magazine wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the image may be the Worst of All Time", the president posted on his social media platform.
“They removed my hair, and then had an object hovering on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an very tiny one. Truly strange! I consistently avoided taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a extremely poor picture, and merits public condemnation. What is their intention, and why?”
Trump has made clear his wish to be pictured on Time’s cover and achieved this four times last year. The obsession has extended to the president's resorts – in 2017, the magazine asked him to remove fake issues shown in several of his venues.
The most recent cover image was shot by a photographer for a news agency at the presidential residence on 5 October.
The perspective was unflattering to the president's jawline and throat – an opening that the governor of California Newsom took advantage of, with the governor's office tweeting a version with the problematic part obscured.
{The living Israeli hostages in Gaza have been freed under the first phase of Trump's ceasefire agreement, in exchange for a release of Palestinian detainees. This agreement may become a major success of his next term, and it might signify a key shift for the Middle East.
Simultaneously, a defence of the president’s appearance has been offered by a surprising origin: the director of information at Moscow's diplomatic office came forward to criticise the "revealing" photo selection.
It's amazing: a image reveals far more about those who chose it than about the subject. Only disturbed individuals, people filled with spite and animosity –maybe even degenerates – could have chosen such a photo", she wrote on the messaging platform.
"And given the complimentary photos of Biden that the same publication featured on the front, even with his age-related challenges, the case is self-damaging for the publication", she noted.
The response to his queries – why did they choose this, and why? – could be related to artistically representing a feeling of authority according to an imaging expert, a media professional.
"The actual photo itself is professionally taken," she notes. "They chose this shot because they wanted trump to look heroic. Looking up at a person creates an impression of their grandeur and his expression actually looks thoughtful and almost somewhat divine. It's rare you see pictures of him in such a peaceful state – the photo appears gentle."
The president's hair looks erased because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, creating a halo effect, she adds. And, while the article's title complements Trump’s expression in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the person photographed."
Few people appreciate being captured from low angles, and although all of the conceptual elements of the image are highly effective, the visual appeal are not complimentary."
The news outlet reached out to Time magazine for a statement.