President Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday morning to criticize Time magazine for the unflattering photograph featured on the cover of an article celebrating “his triumph” in facilitating the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas.
“Time Magazine did a fairly good job with the article about me, but the photo is literally the worst of all time,” Trump remarked. “They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then there was something on top of my head that resembled a tiny floating crown. So bizarre!”
The cover was titled “His Triumph” and captured Trump in a low-angle portrait, providing a close-up view of his right ear, cheek, eye, and nostril, taken from below and slightly to the right.
“I’ve never liked photos taken from below, but this one is particularly bad and merits a mention,” Trump remarked, posing the rhetorical query, “What are they trying to achieve, and why?”
The controversial cover was released just a day after 20 living hostages were liberated, over two years since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
In exchange, Israel released approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners along with the remains of about 360 Palestinians, according to officials.
The article noted, “The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been freed as part of the initial phase of Donald Trump’s peace plan, coupled with a Palestinian prisoner release. This agreement could potentially become a hallmark achievement of Trump’s second term and signify a pivotal shift in Middle Eastern dynamics.”
On September 29, Trump had announced a 20-point plan to resolve the Israel-Hamas conflict, and a ceasefire was initiated last Friday.
He received a hero’s reception during his address at the Israeli Knesset on Monday, following which he traveled to Egypt for a peace summit with leaders from more than twenty nations to discuss sustaining the fragile truce.
“Achieving what many deemed impossible, we finally have peace in the Middle East,” Trump declared during his statement on Monday. “Nobody thought we could reach this point, yet here we are.”
Having won two Time magazine “Person of the Year” titles, in 2016 and 2024, Trump holds a longstanding fascination with traditional markers of importance and recognition.
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Trump has occasionally given interviews to Time and even posed for a 2015 feature alongside a bald eagle, which amusingly tried to attack him during the shoot.
The former president has been vocal about his discontent with unflattering portrayals and situations that could diminish the powerful image he strives to maintain.
Recently, he criticized the United Nations and called for an inquiry after having an elevator malfunction during a ride at the UN General Assembly, which caused his teleprompter to freeze while he was addressing the assembly.
