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Pentagon Officials Refute Trump's Unfounded Claims That Beirut Explosion Was A 'Terrible Attack'

Pentagon Officials Refute Trump's Unfounded Claims That Beirut Explosion Was A 'Terrible Attack'
Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty Images

More than a hundred people were killed and thousands wounded on Tuesday in the wake of a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon.

President Donald Trump was asked about the explosion during his White House press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, and he raised eyebrows when he referred to the explosion as an "attack." Trump was asked to elaborate on the claim and he doubled down.

Watch below.

Trump said:

"It seemed like [an attack], based on the explosion. I met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was. This was not some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of event. This was a—seems to be, according to them, 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 according to a new report from CNN, there's no basis for the claim that it was an attack.

Three Defense Department officials told the media outlet that they had no idea what Trump was talking about.

According to one of the officials, evidence that the explosion was premeditated or deliberate would've automatically triggered force protections for troops in the region, which has yet to happen.

It appeared to many that Trump had absentmindedly called the explosion an attack without evidence before doubling down.






Trump's critics routinely emphasize that Trump's relationships with foreign nations frequently endanger both the United States and the countries with which it interacts.



Investigations into the cause of the explosion are still ongoing.