President Donald Trump welcomed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House on July 21.
“It’s a great pleasure to be with the President of Lebanon. He’s highly respected in this country and actually, long beyond this country,” Trump said, adding that “the relationship is very good.”
“I think that Lebanon has been a very mistreated country for a long period of time,” he continued. “It’s an amazing group of people.”
“It’s been a very badly treated place and country, and we’re going to have it properly treated, and treated with respect that it deserves,” Trump added.
Last month, the United States, Lebanon, and Israel signed a Trilateral Framework that begins the process for “lasting peace and security,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time, adding, “There is a lot of work ahead. We don’t in any way underestimate the difficulty of the task ahead. But we understand the importance of it, how vital it is, and we are honored to have played a part in bringing this together.”
After Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem threatened to move against Lebanon in May, Rubio said the terror group was facilitating a “deliberate campaign to destabilize the country and maintain its power at the expense of the future of the Lebanese people.”
“The United States stands firmly with the legitimate Government of Lebanon as it works to restore its authority and build a better future for all its people,” the statement added. “Hizballah’s threats of violence and overthrow will not be allowed to succeed. The era in which a terrorist group held an entire nation hostage is coming to an end.”
