AKP Phnom Penh, 22 July, 2026--
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House and said the two leaders would discuss privately whether the United States would assist Lebanon in disarming Hezbollah.
"We have some very concrete plans already in store for that, with others going in and helping," Trump told reporters before the meeting. "But they're also becoming much more self-sufficient, and we will be speaking about that."
Trump also said he would be willing to speak directly with Hezbollah if requested by Aoun.
"I would speak to Hezbollah. I speak to everybody," Trump said. "If the president wanted me to speak to Hezbollah ... I would."
The meeting came as Lebanon seeks to extend state authority across the country under a U.S.-brokered framework reached with Israel in June. The arrangement aims to facilitate the deployment of Lebanese troops to areas vacated by Israeli forces and advance efforts to reduce tensions along the border.
Asked whether Washington would take additional steps to press Israel to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Trump said, "We will be looking at that," adding that Israeli forces were "redeploying."
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire near Lebanese troops deploying in one of the designated pilot zones, a day after the first phase of the deployment began.
Aoun said the "ultimate objective" of the U.S.-brokered framework is to end "the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel forever."
The visit marked the first by a Lebanese head of state to the White House since 2009.

AKP-Xinhua