One controversy that has not gotten as much attention in regards to the Donald Trump administration has been the botched raid in Yemen that resulted in the death of a United States Navy SEAL. After William "Ryan" Owens was killed in the raid, his father, Bill Owens, spoke out against the president, forcing Trump to address the issue in recent days.

Trump on Yemen raid

Earlier this year, a mission took place in an attempt to attack al-Qaeda members with the hope of extracting important information about the group in question. While 14 al-Qaeda members were killed, as many as 30 civilians also lost their lives, with Owens not coming home alive.

In response, Donald Trump and the White House labeled the mission a "success," which quickly resulted in backlash, including from Arizona Sen. John McCain, who spent time as a POW during the Vietnam War. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also came under fire last week, when he appeared to dismiss the criticisms of Owen's father, who referred to the raid as "stupid." During a February 28 interview with "Fox and Friends" on Fox News, Trump elaborated further.

"This was something that was, you know, they (military generals) wanted to do," Donald Trump told Fox News host Steve Doocy during a Tuesday morning interview.

"They came to see me, they explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected," Trump continued, before adding, "My generals are the most respected that we’ve had in many decades, I believe. And they lost Ryan."

Donald Trump went on to praise the family, while saying that he understands why Bill Owens didn't want to meet with him because there is "nothing worse" than losing a child.

In closing, the billionaire real estate mogul once again deflected back to the generals, and said that current Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis told him that the Yemen raid was a "very successful mission."

Moving forward

After just over five weeks in the White House, Donald Trump has been forced to deal with a constant cloud of controversy that has hovered over his administration. As the president prepares to deliver his first speech in front of a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, all eyes will be on what Trump says about his plans for the future.
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