Trump Says U.S. Flights to Lebanon Can Return, Promises Heavy Aid After Oval Office Meeting

President Donald Trump welcomed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the Oval Office on Tuesday, and the conversation quickly moved from diplomatic niceties to concrete promises. Trump told Aoun that the United States would "help Lebanon a lot," though he stopped short of spelling out the exact shape of that assistance.

In a twist that caught both reporters and airline executives off guard, the president announced on social media that he was directing his administration to allow all U.S. carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon. The routes have been dormant since 1985, when a hijacking led the Reagan administration to suspend them. If the order sticks, travelers could once again board a nonstop plane from New York or Washington to Beirut – something many Lebanese expatriates have been yearning for over the past four decades.

Reality, however, may temper the optimism. The airspace over the region remains tangled in the fallout from the Iran‑backed Hezbollah‑Israel war, and airlines are likely to weigh safety, insurance costs, and passenger demand before booking seats. Still, the symbolic gesture – a presidential nod to a once‑closed sky – signals a shift in tone.

Beyond the flight issue, the two leaders discussed the broader quest for stability. Lebanon, bruised by months of conflict, hopes Washington‑mediated talks will coax Israeli forces out of the southern districts they still occupy and bolster the Lebanese army’s ability to reclaim areas once under Hezbollah’s sway. Trump hinted that Israel is "in the process" of withdrawing, but offered no timeline.

Aoun praised Trump’s “vision of peace” and called his own presidency a “legacy” of that vision. Trump, in turn, cracked a light‑hearted joke about the Lebanese leader’s looks and said, "Now he can have anything," adding a touch of informality to an otherwise weighty meeting.

The backdrop to these conversations is the June 26 “framework agreement” that laid out a phased Israeli pull‑back and a pilot‑zone plan for Hezbollah disarmament. The U.S. State Department reported that operations have begun in three villages – Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al‑Gharbieh – though it remains murky whether Israeli troops have fully vacated any of them. Both sides describe the steps as tentative, with the Lebanese army slowly moving in while Israel adjusts its force posture.

Trump also raised the notorious “Hezbollah problem,” offering — if Aoun wishes — to speak directly with the group. He floated the notion of Syrian involvement to pressure Hezbollah, a suggestion that would likely be unpopular in Beirut and could put the Lebanese president in an awkward spot.

While the president’s promises sound generous, the road ahead is anything but smooth. Iran’s own war escalation continues to roil the region, and the United States is juggling multiple crises at once. Still, the White House’s willingness to reopen the skies and promise aid marks a noteworthy, if cautious, step toward a more stable Lebanon.