Ledger · 2016 campaign · № 57
Generals given '30 days to submit a plan' to defeat ISIS
Partial“We are going to convene my top generals and give them a simple instruction. They will have 30 days to submit to the Oval Office a plan for soundly and quickly defeating ISIS.”
- Promised
- , Foreign policy speech, Youngstown, Ohio; restated on September 6, 2016 in North Carolina
- Stated deadline
- “30 days after taking office” → September 14, 2016
- Overdue by
- 10 years as of September 22, 2026
- Re-promised
- 3 times with a fresh deadline
- Topic
- Foreign policy
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
He did start the clock: a presidential memorandum on January 28, 2017 gave the Pentagon 30 days, and Defense Secretary James Mattis delivered a preliminary framework around February 27, 2017. PolitiFact rated it a compromise — a plan was produced but it was largely a continuation of the Obama-era campaign, and ISIS's territorial defeat did not come until March 2019. Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling called the 30-day order 'sophomoric.'