The Buzz | Trump says generals feel Beirut blast was likely an ‘attack’

President Donald Trump said U.S. military generals have told him that they “seem to feel” the massive explosion that rocked Beirut, killing at least 100 people, was a “terrible attack” likely caused by a bomb.
Trump was asked why he called it an attack and not an accident, especially since Lebanese officials say they have not determined the cause of the explosion. He told reporters at the White House: “It would seem like it based on the explosion. I met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was. This was not a — some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of a event. … They seem to think it was a attack. It was a bomb of some kind, yes.”
Trump offered condolences to the victims and said the United States stood ready to assist Lebanon. “It looks like a terrible attack,” he said.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the matter yesterday, referring questions back to the White House (see p8).