President Trump said Wednesday that U.S.-led coalition fighters could have the Islamic State in Syria eliminated “by tonight.”
Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, Trump pulled out a paper showing two maps of Syria.
“I brought this out for you because this is a map, everything in the red, this was on Election Night in 2016. Everything red is ISIS,” Trump said.
“When I took it over, it was a mess. Now, on the bottom, that’s the exact same, there is no red,” Trump said, pointing to an image below. “In fact, there’s actually a tiny spot which will be gone by tonight,” Trump said.
“So this is ISIS on Election Day, my Election Day, and this is ISIS now,” he said. “So that’s the way it goes.”
He later shared a screenshot of the maps on Twitter.
ISIS Caliphate two years ago in red vs. ISIS Caliphate TODAY. (Was even worse in November 2016 before I took office). pic.twitter.com/MUgfex4rCj
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2019
In December, Trump declared victory over the ISIS and said all of the approximately 2,000 troops stationed in Syria would soon be on their way back home. The move was criticized by congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle and the Trump administration has since backpedaled a full-blown withdrawal.
The White House announced in February that 200 troops will stay in Syria. The Pentagon has denied follow-up reporting about larger numbers staying behind, including a Wall Street Journal report Sunday that said the U.S. planned to keep 1,000 troops in Syria.
Asked if he had reversed his policy on Syria, Trump denied that was the case while also offering what appeared to be a new estimate the number of troops that would remain in the country.
“No, no. We’re — in Syria, we’re leaving 200 people there and 200 people in another place in Syria, closer to Israel, for a period of time,” he said.
