President Donald Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that he will allow direct flights from U.S. airline carriers to Lebanon following his meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
Trump took to Truth Social to announce the move.
“After meeting with the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, who has done a remarkable job working to transform his Country, I am hereby directing my Administration to allow all U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land,” Trump wrote.
“Hopefully, other Countries will do the same. Enjoy!” he added.
Trump and Aoun met in the Oval Office hours before his announcement, and Trump said Lebanon has long been “mistreated.”
“It’s a great pleasure to be with the president of Lebanon who’s highly respected in his country, and actually long beyond this country. We’ve spoken previously on numerous occasions through representatives, and the relationship is very good,” Trump said.
“I think that Lebanon has been a very mistreated country for a long period of time. It’s an amazing group of people: professors, doctors, lawyers, great intellects, and it’s been hit hard for many, many decades, really,” he added.
Trump added that he and Aoun would solve “a lot of problems” together.
“We’ve already solved some of them for Lebanon, as you know. There’s a Hezbollah problem, but we’ve done some things that I think the world will take notice. Again, 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,” he added.
Aoun thanked Trump for the bilateral meeting and for his work in talks between Lebanon and Israel.
“I would like to thank President Trump and his team for the historic visit and for the historic achievement that we did together by signing the framework with the ultimate objective of ending the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel forever,” Aoun said.
“I think, Mr. President, this will be your legacy. Together, we’ll be able to achieve this objective. It’s about time for Lebanon and for the whole region to be stable and secure. And I know your vision is peace. Your vision is stability, and I think my vision coincides with your vision,” he added.
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