Lebanon Explosion: US Defense Department Contradicts Trump’s Claim Of ‘Terrible Attack’ On Beirut

The U.S. Defense Department officials have contradicted the U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that the explosion in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, was a “terrible attack.”

According to the three U.S. Defense Department officials have said that they are not sure what the POTUS is talking about. The officials, which refused to be identified publicly, said that if it was an attack, then the security protection for the U.S. troops in Lebanon and the other U.S. assets would have been increased automatically. However, none of it has happened so far.

While speaking to the reported at the White House on Tuesday, Trump referred to the explosion as a “terrible attack” and offered sympathy and assistance to the people of Lebanon.

"Let me begin by sending America's deepest sympathies to the people of Lebanon, where reports indicate that many, many people were killed, hundreds more were very badly wounded in a large explosion in Beirut," Trump said on Tuesday. "Our prayers go out to all the victims and their families. The United States ready to assist Lebanon."

The explosion is sais to have left more than 100 dead and thousands injured. The death toll is expected to increase even further as the rescue teams work their way through the rubble to search for dozens of missing individuals.

Lebanese officials have not yet identified the explosion as an attack.

Two State Department officials reported that the Lebanese officials have raised concerns over the U.S. calling the explosion “an attack” at this point.

Trump, however, did not hesitate from meaning the Beirut has been strategically targeted. When asked why he thinks that it was an attack, Trump said that it “seems like it” as per what the U.S. officials told him.

"It would seem like it based on the explosion," Trump said. "I've met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was not a -- some kind of 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."

The explosion was initially blamed on the fire at the fireworks factory at the port in Beirut. However, later it was blamed on the confiscated "high explosive materials" stored at the port for the last few years.