President Trump unleashed his fury on Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday with a multi-part Twitter rant railing against the senator's criticisms of the mission in Yemen. McCain has publicly called the raid last month targeting al Qaeda militants, which killed an estimated 30 people, including Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens and an 8-year-old American girl, a "failure." "And while many of the objectives of the recent raid in Yemen were met, I would not describe any operation that results in the loss of American life as a success," McCain said in a statement.
But on Thursday, Trump — whose administration has deemed the raid "highly successful" — tweeted that McCain should not be discussing "the success or failure of a mission":
Trump then pointed to Defense Secretary James Mattis' approval of the raid, which was the first authorized by Trump:
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White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at his daily press briefing Wednesday that anyone who suggests the raid was unsuccessful "does [a] disservice" to the life of the Navy SEAL who was killed, and "owes an apology."