Washington, July 21 (IANS) President Donald Trump on Tuesday pledged continued US support for Lebanon, saying Washington would help the country emerge from decades of conflict while backing efforts to strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces and implement a new US-brokered framework aimed at ending hostilities with Israel.
Hosting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House, Trump described Lebanon as “a very mistreated country for a long period of time” and said his administration was committed to helping restore stability.
“We’re going to help it a lot,” Trump said during opening remarks in the Oval Office. “We’ve already met a couple of times, and we’ve had some good meetings, and we are going to solve a lot of problems. We’ve already solved some of them for Lebanon.”
Referring to Hezbollah, Trump said: “As you know, there’s a Hezbollah problem, but we’ve done some things that I think the world will take notice of.”
Aoun thanked Trump for what he called a “historic visit” and praised the US role in securing the recently signed framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
“I would like to thank President Trump, really, and his team for the historic visit and for the historic achievement that we did together by signing the framework with the ultimate objective of ending the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel forever,” Aoun said.
“I think, Mr. President, this will be your legacy.”
The Lebanese leader said both countries shared the goal of bringing lasting peace to the region.
“It’s about time for Lebanon and for the whole region to be stable and secure,” he said. “I know your vision is peace; your vision is stability and I think my vision coincides with your vision.”
Asked about the implementation of the agreement, Trump said Israeli forces were “in the process of redeploying” and indicated that Washington would continue discussions on security assistance for Lebanon.
“We have some very concrete plans already in store for that, with others going in and helping,” Trump said when asked about support for the Lebanese army. “But they’re also becoming much more self-sufficient.”
Aoun stressed that strengthening the Lebanese Armed Forces remained central to preserving stability.
“I need two things from you: political support and support for the LAF,” he said. “The LAF is the most trusted institution in the country.”
“We need to support the LAF. The LAF maintains the country safe and stable. Without the LAF, everything will collapse.”
Trump also reiterated his support for expanding the Abraham Accords and suggested Lebanon could eventually become part of the broader regional normalisation process.
“The Abraham Accords have been, I think, a tremendous success,” he said. “I think you’re going to see a lot of countries joining pretty soon… I think Lebanon has a very important place.”
Asked whether direct commercial flights between the United States and Lebanon could resume, Trump replied: “I could see that happening, absolutely.”
The meeting came as the Trump administration seeks to advance implementation of the US-sponsored framework agreement signed in June, which aims to expand the Lebanese army’s control in southern Lebanon, reduce Hezbollah’s military presence and facilitate a phased Israeli redeployment. Ahead of the talks, White House officials said Washington remained committed to supporting Lebanon’s economic recovery and long-term stability.
–IANS
lkj/dan
