Trump says Beirut explosion 'looks like a terrible attack,' contradicting Lebanese officials who implied it was likely an accident

• 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.
• "Looks like a terrible attack," Trump said, adding that his military advisers "seemed to feel" it was an attack.
• Lebanese officials said 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.
• CNN later reported that three US officials said "there was no indication" that the explosion was an attack.

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.

"I will not relax until we find the responsible party for what happened, hold it accountable and apply the most serious punishments against it because it isn't acceptable that a shipment of ammonium nitrate — estimated to be 2,750 tons — was in a depot for the past six years without precautionary measures being taken," said Prime Minister Diab, according to a statement by the Lebanese Higher Defense Council. Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon's general security service, warned against speculation that the explosion was related to terrorism, according to The New York Times.

Ammonium nitrate has caused a host of deadly accidental explosions, including one in Texas in 1937 that killed over 580 people, and been used in a number of bombings, most famously in Oklahoma City in 1995.

CNN later reported that three US officials contradicted Trump and said there wasn't any indication that the explosion was an "attack" as the president characterized it.

—Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 4, 2020

—Nader Itayim | ‌‌نادر ایتیّم (@ncitayim) August 4, 2020

—Ghada Alsharif (@GhadaaSharif) August 4, 2020