President Donald Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with the ‘super bad picture’ featured on TIME magazine’s cover, which marked his return from Israel and Egypt. He described it as the worst image of ‘all time’.
On October 13, at the age of 79, Trump traveled to Sharm el-Sheikh to participate in signing a declaration aimed at fostering peace in Gaza. This event was attended by 20 other global leaders, including representatives from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.
The signing followed his arrival in Israel, which was part of efforts to release hostages from Gaza under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
As a component of this ‘peace plan’, Israel agreed to release 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and an additional 1,700 Gazans detained after October 7, 2023.
“I’m good at solving wars. I’m good at making peace,” Trump said to the BBC regarding his role in the Egyptian summit’s peace-making efforts.
TIME magazine subsequently released a cover highlighting Trump’s ‘Triumph’ and featuring an article that details how his administration facilitated the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The cover story also mentions envoy Steve Witkoff, former advisor and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the ‘painstaking efforts’ made to ‘quiet one of the world’s most destabilizing conflicts’.
Although Trump described the article as ‘relatively good’, he criticized the choice of photograph used to promote it.
The image shows Trump in a low-angle shot, wearing his trademark navy suit and red tie combination.
In spite of TIME’s portrayal of the peace deal as a potential ‘signature achievement’ of Trump’s second term and a ‘strategic turning point for the Middle East’, the President was not pleased.
“Time Magazine wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the Worst of All Time,” he shared on his social media platform, Truth Social. “They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one.
“Really weird!”
Trump expressed his dislike for photos taken from ‘underneath angles’ and criticized the magazine’s ‘super bad’ image as deserving of critique.
“What are they doing, and why?” he asked.
Trump made his first appearance on TIME’s cover in 1989 and has twice been named Person of the Year.
“To be on the cover of Time as Person of the Year is a tremendous honor,” he told NBC in 2016. “It means a lot, especially me growing up reading Time magazine. And, you know, it’s a very important magazine.”
He appeared on the cover again in 2024, surpassing contenders like former Vice President Kamala Harris, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and podcast host Joe Rogan, among others.
The magazine credited him with a ‘comeback of historic proportions, for driving a once-in-a-generation political realignment, for reshaping the American presidency and altering America’s role in the world’.
Despite frequent recognition from TIME, Trump’s relationship with the outlet seems inconsistent.
In 2015, he expressed disappointment about not being chosen for the cover during his initial presidential campaign, as former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the honor. Trump noted: “I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite. They picked a person who is ruining Germany.”
Previously, in 2013, he had criticized the magazine’s annual 100 Most Influential People list, calling it a ‘joke’.