Pentagon contradicts Trump’s claim on Beirut ‘attack’
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper contradicted Donald Trump's suggestion that the explosion in Beirut was an "attack," saying instead that it was likely caused by an accident.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper undermined President Donald Trump’s claim that American military officials believe a deliberate attack was behind the massive explosion that devastated Beirut on Tuesday.
“Most believe that it was an accident as reported,” Esper said during a virtual Aspen Security Forum event this afternoon.
Esper did not directly address the president’s statement a day prior in which Trump said “some of our great generals … seem to think it was an attack, it was a bomb of some kind.”
Trump did not offer any evidence for the claim. US officials have told multiple news outlets they have seen no such evidence.
