Donald Trump says he is close to announcing recapture of all so-called Islamic State land

President Donald Trump speaks at the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS meeting at the US State Department Credit: Susan Walsh/AP

President Donald Trump has said he expects to be able to announce next week that the US and coalition partners have reclaimed 100% of the so-called Islamic State caliphate.

Mr Trump said on Wednesday that the US military will be giving him official notice very soon that 100% of the territory once held by the militant group has been retaken in Iraq and Syria.

Mr Trump gave remarks at the State Department to foreign ministers and senior officials from a 79-member US-led coalition battling the so-called Islamic State group.

“It should be formally announced sometime, probably next week, that we will have 100% of the caliphate,” said the President.

In December, Mr Trump announced the withdrawal of 2,000-plus US troops from Syria.

US officials say so-called Islamic State has lost 99.5% of its territory and is holding on to fewer than two square miles in Syria in the villages of the Middle Euphrates River Valley, where the bulk of the fighters are concentrated.