Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, as pressure mounts on Beirut to disarm Hezbollah.
The visit follows a US-brokered agreement handing the Lebanese army control of southern Lebanon's "pilot zones," a step toward Israeli withdrawal that Washington and Israel say depends on Hezbollah giving up its weapons.
Why is Lebanon's president meeting Trump?
Aoun is meeting Trump to seek stronger US pressure on Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory it still occupies. Aoun has publicly criticized Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into war and hopes Washington's backing can accelerate a full Israeli pullout while he works to disarm the group at home.
What is the pilot zones agreement in southern Lebanon?
The agreement, announced a day before the Trump meeting, gives the Lebanese army control over "pilot zones" in the south. These zones sit mainly just outside land Israel occupied after Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war in March. "As long as that problem exists, Lebanon will never truly get peace," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after meeting Aoun on Sunday, having earlier praised the Lebanese government's "determined effort to reclaim Lebanon's sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure."
Aoun is the first Lebanese president invited to Washington since 2009. Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, said the meeting shows continued US interest in Lebanon but "raises a lot of concern around what more Lebanon may be asked to do."
Why has Hezbollah rejected disarmament?
Aoun, a former army commander, pledged to disarm Hezbollah after his election in early 2025 with Western support, a major shift in Lebanese politics. Hezbollah has repeatedly refused, and the group's decision to trigger the latest war in March led to Israeli strikes that killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.
Violence eased after the US and Iran signed a framework agreement last month, alongside Lebanon's continuing talks with Israel. Under that deal, Israeli forces are meant to withdraw from the south as the Lebanese army deploys, starting with the two pilot zones, but the whole arrangement hinges on Hezbollah disarming. Hezbollah has rejected both the deal and the Lebanon-Israel talks behind it, which Yahya called "deeply disadvantageous" to Lebanon. Iran, which insisted Lebanon be folded into its April ceasefire with Washington, has traded renewed strikes with the US since July 7.
What will Aoun ask Trump for?
Aoun is expected to request more aid for the Lebanese army, given the scale of the task in disarming Hezbollah. In return, Trump will likely want "additional evidence of Aoun's seriousness," according to Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute.
Satloff said Trump would also seek guarantees that Aoun will remove army officers suspected of ties to Hezbollah and eventually pursue peace with Israel. He added that the visit lets Aoun push back on an idea reportedly appealing to Trump: sending Syrian troops into Lebanon to help quash Hezbollah. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said Syria has no intention of intervening, despite Trump's repeated calls for him to do so.
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