‘ISIS is falling fast, very fast’, says Donald Trump
The United States is winning its fight against the Islamic State group and enlarging an international coalition to defeat the group, Defence Secretary, Jim Mattis, has said hours after President Donald Trump said “ISIS is falling fast, very fast.”
“We’re winning. They’re losing. How’s that?” an upbeat Mattis told reporters after a closed-door briefing at the Capitol on Thursday.
Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other officials spoke with House members for more than 90 minutes.
Mattis said he updated lawmakers on “where we’re at in the defeat-ISIS campaign” and building an international coalition, “which is enlarging as you know”.
The briefing came hours after Trump and Vice President, Mike Pence, met with Mattis at the Pentagon, focusing on the fight against the Islamic State group in Afghanistan.
The president didn’t address an anticipated spike in troop levels in Afghanistan on Thursday, telling reporters, “we’ll see. And we’re doing very well against ISIS. ISIS is falling fast, very fast.”
The Trump administration hopes to address weaknesses in Afghan forces with a new strategy and the introduction of several thousand American forces. There are now about 8,400 there.
Asked about possible troop increases, Mattis said, “I’m sure the president will make a decision soon.” Trump avoided providing …read more
