Trump Meets Lebanese President Aoun

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun speaks during a press conference at the Lebanese presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Jan. 17, 2025 (Sipa photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo via AP Images). President Joseph Aoun is meeting U.S. President Donald Trump today in Washington, marking the first visit by a Lebanese president to the White House since 2009. Aoun push for greater U.S. support for Lebanon as it tries to strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces and secure the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. At the meeting, Trump pledged to help Lebanon “a lot” and said the country would be “treated with the respect it deserves.” Also today, Israeli troops withdrew from the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh, and Lebanese forces have been deployed there as part of a U.S.-brokered deal agreed upon last month. The pact outlines steps for Hezbollah’s disarmament and Israel’s withdrawal, as well as a roadmap for the two countries to move toward an eventual peace agreement after nearly eight decades of being nominally at war. But for Lebanon, major obstacles remain. Hezbollah has dismissed direct talks with Washington, Israel remains skeptical of Beirut’s ability to disarm the group and thousands remain unable to return to their homes. As Jonathan Lincoln wrote in a briefing for WPR in May, Lebanon must address some deep-seated issues, but the recent engagement with Israel opens an opportunity to create a Lebanon free of foreign interventions: Both from Iran, Hezbollah’s primary backer, and from Israel.