Trump meets with Lebanese leader, pledges support for peace efforts with Israel

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Trump meets with Lebanese leader, pledges support for peace efforts with Israel
Washington Post, Jul 21, 2026



The United States supports efforts to mediate a deal between Lebanon and Israel, President Donald Trump said in a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Tuesday, amid shaky efforts to restore Lebanese control over its southern territory following an Israeli military incursion.

“Lebanon has been a very mistreated country for a long period of time,” Trump said, as he sat down for the first Oval Office meeting with a Lebanese president since 2009.

The meeting was the White House’s latest effort to broker an Israeli pullout from Lebanon. Trump has tangled with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s conduct in Lebanon, demanding that the Israeli leader be more careful about civilian casualties as he presses attacks on Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political movement that has its stronghold in southern Lebanon.

Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon in March, after the joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran. Netanyahu has said that Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel are an unacceptable danger for Israelis.

The Israeli military action has worsened an already difficult economic situation for Lebanon, which faces financial crisis and the collapse of its banking system. The continued military action has killed more than 4,300 citizens, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been involved in an effort to mediate between Israeli and Lebanese leaders to help bring about a pullback of both Hezbollah and Israeli forces. The diplomacy has been lower-profile than the White House engagement with Iranian leaders to discuss a deal that would restrict Tehran’s nuclear program. But it has also faced challenges amid long-standing hostility between Israel and Hezbollah.

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/21/trump-pledges-support-lebanon-peace-efforts-with-israel-clashes-continue/

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Trump says US-Lebanon flights can resume, pledges help for that country after meeting its president
Associated Press, Jul 21, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pledged to help Lebanon “a lot” during a White House meeting on Tuesday with the country’s leader, Joseph Aoun, who came to push for long-term calm after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

The U.S. has championed peace in Lebanon but has been increasingly distracted by new escalation of the war in Iran, which has destabilized much of the Middle East. Trump says he now has little interest in talks with Iran’s leaders to end the war.

In the meantime, Lebanon and Israel have held rare direct talks mediated by Washington.

“It’s been a very badly treated place and country, and we’re going to have it properly treated and treated with the respect it deserves,” Trump told Aoun during a meeting which wrapped the Lebanese leader’s four-day visit to Washington. “We’re gonna help it a lot,” he said of Lebanon, without giving concrete details.

Hours later, Trump made the surprise announcement that he’d allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon for the first time in 40-plus years after the US suspended the route.

“I am hereby directing my Administration to allow all U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land,” Trump said on social media after Aoun had left the White House.

Lebanon hopes the Washington talks result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon that they currently occupy, and the Lebanese military receiving support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway.

Trump said of Israel’s army withdrawing from Lebanon, “They’re in the process of doing that,” but didn’t elaborate.


https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-president-hezbollah-trump-aoun-israel-e0364d0334c2f4d888d2b3970c9fe5b1

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