President Donald Trump confirmed reports Thursday that the United States had eliminated terrorist Qasim al-Raymi in Yemen.

Al-Raymi was a founder and the leader of a-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and a deputy for current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

He was killed in an American drone strike.

“His death further degrades AQAP and the global al-Qaeda movement, and it brings us closer to eliminating the threats these groups pose to our national security,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House.

The president noted that Raymi had committed violence against civilians and worked to attack United States forces.

In 2017, al-Raymi was targeted by a raid launched by the United States but it failed to capture or kill him. U.S. Navy SEAL William Ryan Owens died in the raid.

In response, al-Raymi released audio in 2017 taunting Trump, boasting that “the new fool of the White House received a painful slap across his face.”

But now al-Raymi is dead.

“The United States, our interests, and our allies are safer as a result of his death,” Trump said.