Donald Trump took issue with Time Magazine’s cover depicting ‘His Triumph’ in the Middle East upon his return from a victory lap visit to Israel and Egypt.
Returning from Sharm El Sheikh on Tuesday, the U.S. president was concerned that the magazine led with a cover image that “disappeared” his hair and “had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one.”
He said the picture “may be the Worst of All Time.”
“Really weird!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a super bad picture, and deserves to be called out. What are they doing and why?”
Trump granted that Time had written “a relatively good story about me”. The article in question detailed ‘How the Trump administration sealed the Gaza ceasefire deal, referencing envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner’s “painstaking efforts” to “quiet one of the world’s most destabilizing conflicts”.
The deal, the article said, “could become a signature achievement of Trump’s second term,” fulfilling his pledge to end the war and paving the way for a “new era” for the region, “defined less by conflict than by the possibility of transformation.”
Time unveiled the cover on Monday as Trump landed in Israel to meet the families of returning hostages and address the Israeli parliament before heading to Sharm el-Sheikh.
The summit in Egypt was aimed at supporting the ceasefire in Gaza, ending the war, and developing a longer-term vision for governing and rebuilding the Palestinian territory.
Trump received outpourings of support during his address to the Knesset and in Sharm el-Sheikh, where Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, the co-chair of the summit, told him “only you” can bring peace to the region.
In his own speech, Trump said that the region has “a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us.” He called on leaders “to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of generations past.”
Trump is now said to be “moving heaven and earth” to conclude his business in the Middle East and get back to Washington, D.C. to posthumously award the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, on what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
Kirk was shot dead while debating students on Utah Valley University’s campus in Orem, Uta,h on September 10.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump told the press: “I’m coming back, I believe it’s Tuesday night, for Charlie Kirk, a friend of mine, a friend of all of ours, a friend of a lot of the people right here.
“And we’re giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest honor you get outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor – one’s military, one’s civilian – but it’s… It’s the greatest honor. And Erika, his beautiful wife, is going to be here, and a lot of people are going to be here.”
Trump is due to meet with Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, on Tuesday for lunch before participating in the Medal of Freedom Ceremony for Charlie Kirk in the afternoon.
The Independent approached the White House and Time Magazine for comment.
