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The final, unanswered question at tonight’s White House press briefing hung particularly heavy in the air: “Did the President not know about the MOAB strike?”

At his first briefing after Friday’s missile strike on Syria, Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave a detailed ‘tick tock’ - an account of Donald Trump’s movements and decision making process leading up to the launch.

But despite being asked several times for the same kind of information about the President - which is usually the remit of the White House Press Secretary - Spicer refused, deflecting any questions on detail to the Department of Defence.

And later, in a separate press pool event, the President himself appeared to admit he didn't specifically authorise the use of the biggest non-nuclear explosive ever dropped.

(Image: AFP)

Asked specifically if he authorised the strike, Trump said: “Everybody knows exactly what happened, so…and what I do is I authorise my military. We have the greatest military in the world and they’ve done a job as usual.

“So we have given them total authorisation, and that’s what they’re doing. And frankly that’s why they’ve been so successful lately.”

(Image: Rex Features) (Image: Reuters)

Earlier, bewildered reporters had fired questions at Spicer as he gathered his papers to leave the Briefing Room - asking him if the President had indeed authorised the dropping of the Mother of All Bombs on an ISIS target in Afghanistan this afternoon.

But the beleaguered spokesman stayed silent as he hot-footed it out of the room.

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(Image: Getty Images North America)

During the briefing, he told one reporter: “I think General Nicholson, United States Forces in Afghanistan is best to address the tick-tock on the situation over there.”

Pressed on details of the President’s consultation and knowledge of the strike, he said: “I understand. I think that the US Forces in Afghanistan as well as the Department of Defence are best to walk through the military operations that are ongoing there.”

Asked specifically if the President ordered or authorised the use of the bomb - the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed - Spicer again deflected the question.

He said: “I’m not going to get into the details right now. I’ll let the Department of Defence handle the lead on this one.”

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United States Central Command has confirmed the US dropped the massive GBU-43 bomb, but has not shared details of the decision process leading up to its deployment.