'You never say you won': Now Trump says it's NOT a good idea to declare victory over ISIS because a 'couple of whack jobs' may blow up a store – even though he declared ISIS 'defeated' last year The president noted the U.S. has retaken 100 per cent of ISIS territory But he said during an event in Minnesota it was a bad idea to declare 'you won' Otherwise, 'you have a couple of whack jobs blow up a store, and people get killed' and it undermines the statement He pointed to 'crazy' attackers Said officials would make sure it happens 'as little as possible' Trump said in December 'We have defeated ISIS in Syria' He also said: 'We have won against ISIS'By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.s. Political Editor For Dailymail.com Published: 23:16 BST, 15 April 2019 | Updated: 23:16 BST, 15 April 2019 Viewcomments President Donald Trump hailed U.S. gains against ISIS but cautioned you can 'never claim victory' because a 'whack job' might blow up a building and undermine the claim. Trump made the comment at the tail end of an event in Minnesota pegged to Tax Day where he proclaimed there were 'a lot of constructive things going on' but also bookended his remarks with comments about the fire at Notre Dame. He pointed to U.S. and coalition battlefield gains against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, where 'we took over 100 per cent of the caliphate,' earning applause from guests. But then Trump provided a window into his new reservations on what he will pronounce. 'When I took over two and a half years ago, you look at that map and ... ISIS was all over the place. And you never say you won. Because you have a couple of whack jobs blow up a store, and people get killed, they blow up something else, people get killed,' he said. President said Monday spoke about ISIS and said that you never want to say 'you won,' because afterward ' a couple of whack jobs [might] blow up a store, and people get killed' 'They are crazy, they're wacky, they're bad people. And we're going to make sure it happens as little as possible,' Trump continued. 'But you can never claim victory because you always have a nut job someplace that's going to do something, okay?' he added. Then he explained his position, while pointing to the state of play on the ground where the U.S., Kurdish militia, and others forced ISIS from its last stronghold in Syria. 'I don't want to be in the position [where someone says] – "Oh, he said 100 per cent. Well we do have, we have 100 cent of the land, of the area,' Trump said. '100 per cent. We took it over very quickly, very quickly,' he continued. 'But we always have somebody out there, so we don't want to be put in a position where we say 100 per cent and then somebody gets killed by some mad maniac,' he explained. 'So i will just tell you, Minnesota, i am with you 1000 per cent. Not 100, but a thousand percent,' he told the crowd in a state he came close to winning in 2016. Trump was less circumspect in recent months. In December, as the final push for reclaiming ISIS territory went on, he wrote: 'We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.' He also posted a tweet where he wrote: 'we have won against ISIS.' The Hill compiled 16 times when Trump said ISIS was defeated or nearly so. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility