Donald Trump says Beirut explosion 'may have been accident or attack'

Donald Trump repeated his assertion that the massive explosion in Beirut may have been a deliberate attack.

The US president modified his initial position, given on Tuesday following a briefing from military officials, that it was a "terrible attack" and "a bomb of some kind".

Speaking at the White House late on Wednesday he said: "They don't really know what it was. I can tell you whatever happens it's terrible, but they don't really know what it is, nobody knows yet.

"At this moment they're looking...how can you say accident, somebody left some terrible explosive type devices and things around perhaps. Perhaps it was that, perhaps it was an attack, I don't think anybody can say right now."

He added: "We're looking into it very strongly right now. You have some people who think it was an attack, and you have some people that think it wasn't."

Mark Esper, the US defence secretary contradicted the president, saying most people believed the explosion "was an accident as reported".

Asked about the defence secretary's comments, Mr Trump said: "I’ve heard it both ways too. I’ve heard accident, I’ve heard explosives, and obviously it must have been some form of explosives. But whether it was a bomb, intentionally set off, it ended up being a bomb.

"But no, I've heard it both ways. It could have been an accident, and it could have also been something that was very offensive."

Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, defended the president's initial comments about a "bomb," saying Mr Trump had only passed on what military officials told him.

Mr Meadows said: "The president shared with the American people what he was briefed on, with 100 per cent certainty I can tell you that."