WASHINGTON — President Trump declared on Thursday that “we just took over 100 percent” of territory controlled by the Islamic State in Syria — a claim that reports from the battle front suggested was 100 percent untrue. “You kept hearing it was 90 percent, 92 percent, the caliphate in Syria. Now it’s 100 percent, we just took over,” Mr. Trump said in remarks to American troops in Alaska. “Now it’s 100 percent, we just took over 100 percent caliphate. That means the area of the land. We just have 100 percent.” “So that’s good.”
The battle was continuing on Thursday when officials with the Syrian Democratic Forces, an American-backed militia of Kurdish and Arab fighters, were told of Mr. Trump’s announcement. “It’s 100 percent not true,” one senior official with the group said on Thursday afternoon. “The fighting continues.” Separately, a second official said, “The battle is still going, and there is no truth in that statement.” “I’ve been in #Syria for the last 28 days covering the offensive and I can assure @realdonaldtrump that is NOT the case,” tweeted Ben Wedeman, a CNN war correspondent. The Pentagon scrambled to catch up with Mr. Trump’s comments and referred questions to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
