Trump: US took over '100 percent' of Daesh 'caliphate'

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump said Thursday the U.S. has taken more than 100 percent of the Daesh territory in Syria, an announcement the president had been saying would happen over the past few weeks.

"Now it’s 100 percent we just took over, 100 percent caliphate. That means the area, the land, we have 100 percent," Trump told troops at the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. "We have the whole thing."

The president stopped at the base to refuel on his way back from a trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, where he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"We did that in a much shorter time than it was supposed to be," Trump said.

Trump announced the "rapid" withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria in December, claiming the global coalition had succeeded in defeating Daesh as his "only reason for being" there.