Reuters reported Friday that the U.S. Defense Department has claimed the Islamic State no longer retains territory in Syria. According to spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, U.S. Acting Defense Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan related this to President Donald Trump while he was on Air Force One en route to Florida. Sanders said the group’s territory had been “100 percent eliminated” in Syria. Earlier this week, Trump claimed ISIS would be defeated by Wednesday night, a claim unsubstantiated at the time by the Pentagon. Trump has said that 400 U.S. troops would remain in Syria after the defeat, while The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. defense officials have put the number closer 1,000 troops.
