Trump says US should have captured Osama Bin Laden 'long before' it did in bitter feud with admiral who orchestrated operation to have him killed

President Donald Trump has claimed the US should have captured Osama Bin Laden “long before” it did.

The remark was the President's latest in a bitter feud with Admiral William McRaven, the retired Navy SEAL who led the operation resulting in Bin Laden's death.

“Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did,” Mr Trump tweeted on Monday, after making similar comments in an interview just a day before.

“I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!..”

After this he stated that the US used to pay Pakistan “billions” and they would “take our money and do nothing for us”.

“Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another,” he wrote.

“They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That’s ENDING!”

Prior to these tweets, Mr Trump had stated his belief it would have been “nice” to have captured the leader of Al-Qaeda sooner.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, the Mr Trump was asked about comments that Bill McRaven had made shortly after he was sworn in.

In these he called Mr Trump the “greatest threat to democracy” that he had seen throughout his life.

In rebuttal, Mr Trump spoke of Mr McRaven and said: “Hillary Clinton fan.

“Excuse, me, Hillary Clinton fan.

“He’s a Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama-backer and frankly, wouldn’t it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that? Wouldn’t it have been nice?

“Think of this, living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan, in what I guess they considered a nice mansion. I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer.

“But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy. Everybody in Pakistan knew he was there. And we give Pakistan $1.3 billion a year and they don’t tell him, they don’t tell him.”

Presenter Chris Wallace pointed out that Mr McRaven had been a Navy SEAL for 37 years, though President Trump ignored this.

When asked if the US would give him any credit for eventually finding Bin Laden, Trump said: “They took him down but – look, look, there’s news right there.

"He lived in Pakistan, we’re supporting Pakistan, we’re giving them $1.3billion a year, which we don’t give them anymore by the way, I ended it because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us.”

After these comments, 63-year-old Mr McRaven told Jake Tapper of CNN that he did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else in the 2016 elections.

He said: “I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else. I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked for. I admire all Presidents, regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office.”

He also defended his comments that Mr Trump’s “attack on the media” was the greatest threat to democracy he had witnessed.

Mr McRaven oversaw Operation Neptune Spear, that resulted in the raid that led to Bin Laden's death on May 2, 2011.