President Donald Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday to meet the remains of a U.S. commando killed during the first counter-terrorism operation of his presidency.
Trump was scheduled to arrive in Marine One on Wednesday afternoon to join the family of Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, per a White House pool report. Press would not be present for official events in the process, known as “dignified transfer.”
Owens died Jan. 28 of wounds sustained during a raid on an al-Qaida base in Yemen.
News of Trump’s destination was embargoed until shortly before the President was scheduled to land at the base. He was accompanied by his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), according to the pool report.
Media coverage of the transfer of fallen soldiers’ remains was banned during the Gulf War in 1991, though exceptions were made until President Barack Obama’s administration lifted the ban in 2009.
Obama traveled to Dover to meet remains multiple times during his presidency. He also instructed reporters in the White House press corps not to report on the trip ahead of time.
