President Donald Trump criticized Time magazine’s new cover on Tuesday, calling the image “the Worst of All Time” even as the issue features a largely positive story on his role in brokering the Gaza ceasefire.
In posts on Truth Social, Trump said editors “disappeared” his hair and used a low angle that left “something floating on top of my head that looked like a crown, but an extremely small one.”
The complaint came as coverage continued of the agreement that saw 20 living hostages released and about 2,000 Palestinian detainees freed in exchange.
What Trump said
Trump wrote that Time “wrote a relatively good story” yet chose a “super bad picture.” He added, “I never liked taking pictures from underneath,” arguing the angle exaggerated his neck and blended strands of hair into the sky and the magazine’s logo.
The president’s comments followed two days of public events tied to the ceasefire rollout, including a speech to the Knesset and a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Trump returned to the United States as the agreement moved into initial implementation, with hostage returns continuing and prisoners crossing back into the West Bank and Gaza under international monitoring.
What’s on Time’s cover
The Nov. 10 issue features a low-angle portrait of Trump partly blocking the sun, titled “His Triumph.” The backlighting makes the edges of his hair appear lighter and closer to the white TIME masthead, a presentation that drew Trump’s ire.
A write-up in the Washington Post summarized the president’s overnight posts and noted that the accompanying story cast the ceasefire as a major achievement of his second term while the photograph became the point of contention.
Time did not immediately release a public statement about the artistic choices behind the image. Magazine covers are typically commissioned to convey a theme, and backlit portraits are a common stylistic approach for symbolic effect. Trump, however, focused on the angle and lighting, saying the photo “deserves to be called out.”
Praise for the deal, and the broader context
The ceasefire that framed the cover story followed the return of all 20 living Israeli hostages held since Oct. 7, 2023, while Israel freed roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of the first phase.
World leaders gathered in Egypt to discuss reconstruction and security arrangements as additional phases are prepared.
Trump has framed the agreement as a turning point. In Jerusalem he said, “This is not only the end of a war,” calling it “the beginning of the age of faith and hope.”
The speech and the follow-on summit drew extensive coverage as agencies tracked border movements, medical checks for released captives and the ramp-up of humanitarian aid convoys.
