We know that Donald Trump cares a lot about Time magazine, to the point where he’s been known to put up fake Time covers at his resorts. It’s also known that the president takes negative media coverage very personally.
On Monday, the day after the successful conclusion of a ceasefire agreement that resulted in the freeing of Israel’s remaining hostages in Gaza, and the apparent end of the war after two years, Time magazine ran a cover story with a picture of Trump and the cover line “His Triumph.”
The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been freed under the first phase of Donald Trump’s peace plan, alongside a Palestinian prisoner release. The deal may become a signature achievement of Trump’s second term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for the Middle… pic.twitter.com/0bZDABIDGj
— TIME (@TIME) October 13, 2025
The cover and story were so positive that they angered quite a few anti-Trump people on Monday.
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Trump, however, wasn’t happy with any of that, complaining on Truth Social late on Monday night about the cover photo made his hair look.
“Time Magazine wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the Worst of All Time. 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,” Trump said in the post. “Really weird! 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?”
It was posted at 1:36 a.m., although the president was in the Middle East so it’s not clear where he was at the time it was posted.
“The low-angle shot and beatific lighting were apparently meant to make Trump heroic, but instead highlighted his jowls and revealed just how much work must go into making his hair seem so voluminous,” The Daily Beast said of the photo.
However, some had a different interpretation, based on the high-angle shot and the use of the word “Triumph”:
This TIME Magazine cover is a masterpiece. The reference here is unmistakable:
The photo is in the style of Leni Riefenstahl (Hitler’s filmmaker), and the “His Triumph” headline is a clear reference to Riefenstahl’s infamous Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of the Will. pic.twitter.com/HaDmbuXCkC
— Übermentions (@UberMenchies) October 14, 2025
More like His Triumph of the Will.
We are living in colossally cowardly and stupid times for journalism and entertainment. https://t.co/txFn6QWsN9
— AdequateEmily (@AdequateEmily) October 14, 2025
Photo courtesy of an X screenshot.
