Story highlights "It's absolutely a success," Spicer said

McCain has called the mission a "failure"

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump and Sen. John McCain are squaring off again.

Trump blasted McCain on Twitter Thursday following the Arizona Republican's comments a day earlier that he couldn't characterize the operation as a "success."

"Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media. Only emboldens the enemy!" Trump wrote.

His spokeswoman Julie Tarallo later said McCain will "continue to execute his oversight duties as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and support the brave men and women serving our nation in uniform."

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The sparring between Trump and McCain began Wednesday. White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked at a briefing about criticism of the raid, including comments by McCain.

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