President Donald Trump claimed a massive explosion that killed dozens and wounded thousands in Beirut on Tuesday was “an attack,” contradicting Lebanese authorities who implied it appeared to be an accident.
President Donald Trump claimed a massive explosion that killed at least 78 people and wounded at least 4,000 in Beirut on Tuesday was “an attack,” contradicting the Lebanese government’s announcement that the blast involved the accidental detonation of a cache of explosive chemicals.
Trump began his Tuesday evening press briefing by offering sympathy to the Lebanese people after what he said “looks like a terrible attack.”
When asked by a reporter to clarify his comment, the president said his military advisers “seemed to feel” the incident was an attack based on the type of explosion.
“I’ve met with some of our great generals and they just seemed to feel that it was,” Trump said. “This was not some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event … They would know better than I would, but they seem to think it was an attack — it was a bomb of some kind, yes.”
But Lebanese officials said on Tuesday afternoon that the blast involved a large amount of ammonium nitrate that had been seized by the government several years ago and was being held at the site of the explosion.❑
Business Insider
