Photo: Alamy
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is scheduled to visit the White House this week for his first meeting with President Donald Trump, where he plans to present a proposal to disarm the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and secure an Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Aoun, the former commander of Lebanon’s U.S.-backed armed forces, will become the first Lebanese president in nearly two decades to visit the White House.
The meeting comes as Lebanon continues to grapple with the aftermath of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israeli forces remain in parts of southern Lebanon, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have been displaced and Hezbollah has rejected government efforts to negotiate directly with Israel or surrender its weapons.
According to comments released by his office last week, Aoun intends to ask President Trump to “exert the necessary pressure on Israel” to implement a U.S.-brokered agreement reached June 26 between Israel and Lebanon.
The agreement calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament, a phased Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon and steps toward more stable relations between the two countries.
A Lebanese official said Aoun will present the president with a written proposal outlining how Hezbollah’s military arsenal could be dismantled. The official said Aoun believes President Trump is uniquely positioned to persuade Israel to withdraw its forces and help Lebanon reestablish full control over its territory.
Aoun, 62, was elected president last year after serving as commander of Lebanon’s military. His election was welcomed by the United States.
Under Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the presidency is reserved for a Maronite Christian, while the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim.
His presidency has coincided with a shift in Lebanon’s political landscape following Israel’s 2024 military campaign against Hezbollah and the collapse of the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad, a longtime Hezbollah ally.
During his first year in office, the government worked to collect Hezbollah weapons stockpiles in southern Lebanon under the terms of a ceasefire reached after the 2024 conflict.
Those efforts were disrupted after Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel on March 2 in support of Iran, prompting a renewed Israeli military campaign.