Trump sees total rout of Islamic State group as imminent

US President Donald Trump has said territory held by the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq could be "100%" liberated as early as next week.

"It should be announced, probably some time next week, that we will have 100% of the caliphate," he told a gathering of coalition partners.

However, he also cautioned that he wanted to "wait for the official word".

US military and intelligence officials say IS could stage a comeback without sustained counter-terrorism pressure.

Trump rewrites US Syria policy
After the caliphate: Has IS been defeated?
Mr Trump shocked coalition allies in December when he declared that the group had been defeated, amid reports he wanted to pull out US soldiers within 30 days.

But he later slowed the withdrawal after several resignations from key defence officials and strong criticism from Republicans and allies abroad.

The global coalition against IS, now numbering nearly 80 nations, was formed in 2014 after the group overran swathes of territory and went on to launch terror attacks outside the region.

How does Trump view the battle against IS now?
"Their land is gone," he told Wednesday's conference in Washington. "The Isis [IS] caliphate has been decimated."

But the group still had "tiny sections that can be so dangerous", he said, and "foreign fighters must not gain access" to the US.

He also referred to the IS propaganda machine, which recruited fighters from Europe and other regions.

"For a period of time they used the internet better than we did," he said. "They used the internet brilliantly but now it's not so brilliant."

The US leader thanked coalition partners, saying, "We will be working together for many years to come."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged the US would continue to fight IS, despite withdrawing troops from Syria.

He called the troop pullout a "tactical change... not a change in the mission", and said the world was entering an "era of decentralised jihad".