For President Donald Trump, the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a signature achievement that may help quell growing criticism from his own ranks, but it is unlikely to offer much relief from Democratic-led scrutiny of his dealings with Ukraine.
The raid could not have come at a better time for Trump, who is facing an impeachment investigation by Democrats in the US House of Representatives who say his attempt to persuade Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden was an abuse of power and may have put national security at risk.
He has also come under withering criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike for an abrupt decision to pull US troops out of north-eastern Syria, which cleared the way for a Turkish invasion against America's Kurdish allies in the area.
"I don't think it alters the trajectory of our politics in any way necessarily, but without question, for the president it's a huge win. There's no other way to spin it," said Lanhee Chen, a Hoover Institution scholar who advised Republican Marco Rubio's presidential campaign in 2016 and Mitt Romney in 2012.
Trump, who is up for re-election in November 2020, will be able to trumpet the successful raid on the campaign trail as another reason why he should not be thrown out of office, in addition to his tough stance on illegal immigration and his record on the economy.
He could not help but tease the win in a typically grandiose fashion: "Something very big has just happened!" he tweeted on Saturday night, apparently only minutes after US special forces had safely landed back at their base.
Aware of the political capital suddenly at his disposal, Trump delivered the news on Sunday from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room standing before battle flags that had been brought from the Oval Office for the occasion.
Trump offered vivid and sometimes grisly details about the raid and Baghdadi's demise, which he claimed was "bigger" than the 2011 US killing of al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
