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White House meeting
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, with both sides discussing regional and international issues alongside bilateral relations.
Trump told Aoun, "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," and said, "We're gonna help it a lot," without giving concrete details.
Aoun used the meeting to press for long-term calm after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, and he called for stability and security as the Lebanese army moved into an area in southern Lebanon under a deal with Israel to disarm Hezbollah.
The meeting also came as a framework agreement signed on June 26 set a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw and for the disarmament of Hezbollah, with pilot zones in southern Lebanon where the Lebanese army was beginning deployments.
In the same White House setting, Trump said, "There's a Hezbollah problem," and suggested he could personally speak with Hezbollah if Aoun wanted him to, while Aoun told Trump, "Your vision is peace," calling it Trump's "legacy."
Talks and pilot zones
At a White House press conference during Aoun’s visit, Trump announced his readiness to speak with Hezbollah if Aoun asked him to do so, saying, "I will talk to Hezbollah."
Anadolu Ajansı reported that Trump added, "If President Aoun asks me to talk to Hezbollah, I will do so," while also saying Israeli forces are in the process of redeploying to other areas.
The same reporting tied the diplomacy to implementation steps under the June 26 framework agreement, with the U.S. State Department announcing the start of operations in experimental villages of Fron, Srifa, and Zoutr al-Gharbiyeh.
AP News described confusion over whether Israeli troops actually withdrew from any territory, including a Lebanese military official saying the Lebanese army was unsure whether Israeli forces had been in Zawtar al-Gharbieh before Tuesday.
France 24 reported that Aoun warned the south could see a return of the chaos of the 1970s without Washington’s backing, telling reporters, "All we're asking is, keep supporting the LAF," and "I fully trust the leadership of the LAF."
Disarmament stakes
Multiple outlets framed the meeting around Israel’s condition that Hezbollah be disarmed before withdrawal, with France 24 saying the pressure on Beirut to disarm Hezbollah was Israel's key condition before withdrawing its troops from south Lebanon.
AP News reported that Lebanon hopes the Washington talks result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon that they currently occupy, and that the Lebanese military receiving support would help assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway.
Le Figaro said Rubio told Aoun, "As long as this problem persists, Lebanon will never know true peace," linking the prospects for peace to the disarmament of Hezbollah and the dismantling of its infrastructure.
The stakes also included the first phase of Lebanese deployment in pilot zones, with Le Devoir reporting that the Lebanese army began deploying on Tuesday to Zawtar al-Gharbiya and accusing Israeli forces of having "opened fire" near its units.
In the same context, Africtelegraph described a reported U.S. proposal to obtain retrocession of portions of Lebanese territory still held by the Israeli army in exchange for active coordination with new Syrian authorities led by Ahmad al-Charaa to dismantle Hezbollah's arsenal, placing Beirut before a dilemma over disarmament and sovereignty.
