National security adviser says Trump is 'as clear as clear can be' on defeat of ISIS

White House national security adviser John Bolton told "This Week" Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz Sunday that President Donald Trump is "as clear as can be" when discussing the defeat of the Islamic State.

"The president has been, I think, as clear as clear can be when he talks about the defeat of the ISIS territorial caliphate," Bolton said. "He has never said that the elimination of the territorial caliphate means the end of ISIS in total. We know that's not the case. We know right now that there are ISIS fighters scattered still around Syria and Iraq. And that ISIS itself is growing in other parts of the world. The ISIS threat will remain."

Last month, Trump claimed that "100 percent" of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria has been defeated.

"We did that in a much shorter period of time then it was supposed to be," Trump told American troops in Alaska on his return from his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

But on Thursday Gen. Joseph Votel, the commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East, warned that "the fight against ISIS and violent extremism is far from over."

"While ISIS has been battered by the Syrian Democratic Forces and coalition forces, we should be clear in our understanding that what we are seeing now is not the surrender of ISIS as an organization but a calculated decision to preserve the safety of their families and preservation of their capabilities by taking their chances in camps for internally displaced persons, and going to ground in remote areas and waiting for the right time for a resurgence," Votel told the House Armed Services Committee.

Bolton said Sunday that he would not "criticize" partial clips of Votel's comments.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the U.S.-led coalition, resumed the offensive on Baghouz on March 1, after they had paused for more than a week to allow an estimated 10,000 civilians and ISIS families to leave the town.

An SDF official told the Associated Press that ISIS gunmen in Baghouz were still prepared to fight.

"This is not the end. We are maybe on the threshold of a new battle," he said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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