Trump’s latest claims about ISIS appear dubious (again)

It’s been a few months since Donald Trump declared that he was withdrawing all U.S. military forces out of Syria – a policy the president has since altered several times. During a brief Q&A with reporters yesterday, Trump fielded a question on the subject, which he answered with a visual aide.

Q: Have you reversed your policy on Syria?

TRUMP: 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. I brought this out for you because this is a map of – everything in the red – this was on Election Night in 2016. Everything red is ISIS. When I took it over, it was a mess. Now, on the bottom, that’s the exact same. There is no red. In fact, there’s actually a tiny spot, which will be gone by tonight.

For now, let’s focus specifically on those last few words: ISIS-controlled territory, the president said, “will be gone by tonight.”

A few hours later, at an event in Ohio, Trump repeated the line, telling his audience, “Let me tell you about ISIS. They’re not doing so well. You know, we took over the caliphate. You’ll see it tonight.”

So, what happened last night?

It’s difficult to say with certainty, but there’s been no announcement from the White House or administration officials about any kind of breakthrough. In fact, the New York Times published a report pointing in the opposite direction.

In Syria, officials with the American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces near the last pocket of extremist-controlled territory said on Wednesday that a group of Islamic State fighters still controlled a sliver of land along the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, where they were holed up with women and children.

As long as that area was still under the Islamic State’s control, “it would be weird to expect an announcement in the next day,” said a Syrian Democratic Forces official, who was not authorized to respond to Mr. Trump’s comments and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

It wouldn’t be the first time someone used the word “weird” to describe Trump’s rhetoric.

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