The president will visit the Pentagon on Monday to discuss the country’s strategy against the Islamic State with members of his national security team.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Friday that the president’s meeting will focus on steps to “strengthen the execution of our strategy and hasten the defeat of ISIL.”
“I expect him both to hear what we’re doing, and continue to say what he’s told me and General Dunford, certainly for the military campaign, which is that he wants us to continue to come to him with proposals for ways that we can strengthen the campaign consistent with our overall strategic approach,” Carter said during a joint press conference Friday afternoon.
Obama will hear from the Defense Department, senior commanders in the field, and the National Security Council during Monday’s meetings, after which he is expected to address the press.
It will mark his second visit to the Pentagon this year. During the first in July, he championed progress in the fight against the terrorist group, while stating that there will always be set backs in any military campaign.
The meetings come as both lawmakers and the public are calling for the president to step up his strategy against the terrorist group. A Harvard Institute of Politics poll released this week found that 60 percent of American Millennials support sending U.S. ground troops to defeat the Islamic State.
