US President Donald Trump said the big explosion in Beirut, which killed 100 people and wounded nearly 4,000, was apparently caused by a "bomb."
"The United States stands ready to assist Lebanon, it was a terrible attack," Trump said in a White House press briefing on the explosion.
In response to a question about his perception of the explosion, Trump said he had met with some American soldiers who believed that "the explosion is not the type of explosion caused by a manufacturing process," and told reporters that, according to those soldiers who did not mention them by name, the explosion may have been "an attack and a bomb of some kind What".
The Pentagon referred the questions to the White House.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was not clear where Trump was getting his information, but preliminary information did not appear to indicate the blast was an attack.
The officials said that the information to date was almost consistent with what Lebanese officials said. They added that the information is still preliminary and may change over time.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun had said that 2750 tons of ammonia nitrate were stored in the port "without safety measures" and exploded, and confirmed that the matter is unacceptable.