WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Earlier on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US military was preparing to withdraw all of its forces from northeastern Syria.

The United States is moving on to the next phase in its campaign in Syria against the Daesh* terrorist group, and will continue to work with its allies to fight the radical group, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in statement on Wednesday.

"We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign," Sanders said. "The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists territory, funding, support and any means of infiltrating our borders."

Following the announcement, the US official stated that in 24 hours, all US State Department staff will be evacuated from Syria adding that it is expected that the troops will return home within 60 to 100 days.  

The move comes after US President Donald said earlier in the day in a Twitter statement that the Daesh terrorist group has been defeated in Syria, adding that this was the only reason for the United States to be in the Middle Eastern country during his presidency.