President Donald Trump at Joint Base Andrews in September 2017. Senior Airman Delano Scott/US Air Force photo
Business Insider: Trump says 'ISIS is defeated' — the Pentagon says not quite
* President Donald Trump said in an interview on Tuesday that ISIS had been defeated.
* He's made similar statements before, but military officials have been more circumspect.
* While ISIS has lost the territory it once controlled, the group remains a potent terror threat that can strike globally.
President Donald Trump told the Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview on Tuesday that ISIS, the terrorist group that swept over Iraq and Syria in 2014, has been defeated.
US military leaders have said the group has been rolled back and denied control of territory, but they've stopped short of pronouncements like Trump's and noted that coalition forces are still fighting them in their last strongholds.
Asked why more US troops are now abroad in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa, despite Trump's campaign pledges to bring troops home, the president said his priority was national security.
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Update #1: Trump declares victory over ISIS. The Pentagon says that's still months away (Washington Examiner)
Update #2: ISIS 'far from defeated' despite territorial losses, Joint Chiefs chairman warns (Washington Times)
WNU Editor: The war against the Islamic State is far from over, but they are not the force that they use to be. Unfortunately .... they will still continue to attract recruits .... Foreign fighters still joining IS in Syria: US general (France 24).
