For months, Mr. Trump has demanded credit for a stepped-up military campaign that has weakened the Islamic State, claiming repeatedly that he has done “far more against ISIS in nine months” than President Barack Obama did during his entire administration.
Yet experts said it was always anticipated that the three-year war against the Islamic State that was started by Mr. Obama in 2014 would reach this point, and military officials are quick to praise local troops and fighters for battleground victories.
“Just by looking at the map, the losses this year are off the scale compared to previous years,” said Columb Strack, an analyst at the research firm IHS Markit, which has been tracking the territory that the Islamic State has surrendered.
But, he added, “I haven’t seen any major differences in the U.S. approach against the Islamic State.”
The ferocity of Operation Inherent Resolve, the American campaign against the Islamic State, has accelerated in nearly every way over the past year.
