Meeting Trump at White House, Lebanon’s Aoun says ending state of hostility with Israel will be achieved

US President Donald Trump begins his Oval Office meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun by pledging to help Lebanon.

“We’re going to help it. We’re going to help it a lot,” Trump tells reporters while sitting next to Aoun, without elaborating.

“We are going to solve a lot of problems. We’ve already solved some of them for Lebanon. There’s a Hezbollah problem, but we’ve done some things that I think the world will take notice,” Trump says.

He reiterates that Lebanon has been “very badly treated,” without specifying by whom. “We’re going to have it properly treated with the respect that it deserves,” he says.

In the past, Trump has knocked Israel for being too heavy-handed in its strikes against Hezbollah that have also killed civilians.

In his opening remarks, Aoun touts Trump as a “great president,” leading Trump to smile and quip, “He knows how to get to me.”

Aoun goes on to hail the framework deal that the US brokered last month that has “the ultimate objective of ending the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel forever.”

“This will be your legacy. Together, we’ll be able to achieve this objective,” Aoun says.

“It’s about time for Lebanon and for the whole region to be stable and secure. Your vision is peace. Your vision is stability, and I think my vision coincides with your vision,” he adds.