'The worst of all time': Donald Trump criticizes Time's 'super bad' cover picture.
It is a glowing feature in a publication that the president has frequently admired – with one exception. The cover picture, he stated, ""might be the most terrible in history".
Time's tribute to the president's involvement in facilitating a Gaza ceasefire, leading its 10 November issue, was paired with a photo of the president taken from below while the sun positioned behind him.
The result, Trump claims, is "super bad".
"Time Magazine wrote a fairly positive story about me, but the photo may be the Worst of All Time", the president posted on his social media platform.
“My hair was erased, and then there was a shape over my head that seemed like a hovering crown, but extremely small. Very odd! I have never liked being shot from underneath, but this is a super bad image, and it merits criticism. What are they doing, and why?”
Donald Trump has shown no secret of his desire to be pictured on Time magazine's front page and achieved this four times last year. The preoccupation has made it as far as his golf courses – previously, the publication requested to remove fake issues exhibited in some of his properties.
The latest edition’s photo was shot by a photographer for a news agency at the White House on October 5.
The perspective did no favours for his chin and neck area – an opportunity that the governor of California Newsom took advantage of, with his press office posting a modified photo with the problematic part blurred.
{The Israeli captives detained in Gaza have been released under the initial stage of Trump's ceasefire agreement, alongside a freeing of Palestinian inmates. This agreement could be a defining accomplishment of the president's renewed tenure, and it could mark a strategic turning point for that part of the world.
At the same time, a defence of his portrayal has emerged from unusual quarters: the spokesperson at Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs intervened to criticise the "revealing" picture decision.
It's amazing: a photograph reveals far more about those who picked it than about the subject. Only sick people, people obsessed with malice and hatred –possibly even deviants – could have picked this picture", she shared on her social channel.
"And given the complimentary photos of President Biden that the periodical displayed on the cover, notwithstanding his health issues, the situation is self-revealing for Time", she added.
The answer to Trump’s questions – what were Time’s editors doing, and why? – could be related to creatively capturing a feeling of authority stated by Carly Earl, a media professional.
The photograph technically is well-executed," she explains. "They selected this photo because they wanted the president to look impressive. Looking up at a person evokes a feeling of their importance and the president's visage actually looks reflective and almost a bit ethereal. It’s not often you see pictures of him in such a serene moment – the photo appears gentle."
The president's hair appears to “disappear” because the light from behind has overexposed that part of the image, producing a glowing aura, she adds. Although the article's title pairs nicely with his facial expression in the image, "one cannot constantly gratify the individual in question."
"No one likes being captured from low angles, and while all of the artistic aspects of the image are quite powerful, the appearance are not complimentary."
The Guardian contacted the magazine for a statement.
