WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump on Thursday lashed out at Republican Sen. John McCain, who has disputed the Trump administration’s insistence that the deadly U.S. military mission in Yemen was “absolutely a success.”
Trump took to Twitter to assail the Vietnam War veteran and chairman of the Armed Services Committee for “emboldening the enemy” after the Arizona lawmaker initially called last month’s raid a “failure.” McCain issued a statement Tuesday in which he said that while many objectives of the raid were met, “I would not describe any operation that results in the loss of American life as a success.”
“Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media,” Trump said over several tweets. “Only emboldens the enemy! He’s been losing so … long he doesn’t know how to win anymore.”
The raid was supposed to be an intelligence gathering mission but turned into a lengthy battle with al-Qaida fighters in which a Navy SEAL, Ryan Owens, was killed, a $75 million aircraft was lost and there were multiple casualties, including women and children.
“Our hero … Ryan died on a winning mission (according to General Mattis), not a ‘failure.’ Time for the U.S. to get smart and start winning again!” Trump tweeted. Retired Gen. Jim Mattis is Trump’s secretary of defense.