Trump says Netanyahu and Lebanese president to meet in DC ‘over the next couple weeks’

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will be coming to Washington “over the next couple of weeks.

Trump makes the announcement while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after wrapping up the second round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon during which the sides agreed to extend a ceasefire by three weeks.

Trump claimed earlier this month that Netanyahu and Aoun would speak on the phone — something that didn’t end up happening.

He later claimed that the two leaders would meet together at the White House.

It’s unclear whether Aoun will actually agree to speak or meet with Netanyahu in light of the threats he is facing from Hezbollah.

While an extended ceasefire may make such a meeting more likely, Aoun is sure to face pushback to the idea as long as Israel maintains a large buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump touts the “historic” meeting that just unfolded, declaring that the two sides like each other.

“We think that the president of Lebanon and the prime Minister of Israel, over the next couple of weeks will be coming here,” Trump says, adding that he expects the meeting to take place some time during the three-week truce extension.

“We’re going to be working with Lebanon to get things straightened out in that country.”

Trump expresses his hope that Lebanon can be stabilized “simultaneously with what we’re doing in Iran.”