Israel Pullout Now Hangs on Joseph Aoun's Trump Talks

Joseph Aoun's Trump talks now turn on one question: can Lebanon's president secure U.S. backing for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon while moving against Hezbollah's weapons?

Aoun met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Sunday ahead of expected Tuesday talks with President Donald Trump, according to Al Jazeera, as Beirut seeks U.S. support to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and secure an Israeli pullback from southern Lebanon.

Can Joseph Aoun's Trump talks unlock the first Israeli withdrawal?

Aoun told Rubio that Lebanon and the United States need to work together to implement the U.S.-backed agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel on June 26, starting with an initial Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the Lebanese presidency said in a post on X.

The State Department framed the meeting around implementation of what it called the Trilateral Framework, the U.S.-backed structure for the June 26 deal. In its readout, Washington said Rubio backed Lebanon’s effort to restore state authority.

Rubio praised Lebanon’s “determined efforts to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure and move towards peace,” according to the U.S. State Department.

Aoun and First Lady Naima Aoun arrived at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday for the official visit, according to the Lebanese presidency. Aoun is also expected to meet members of the U.S. Senate and other administration officials.

The trip is historically rare. It is the first Washington visit by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman met Barack Obama in 2009.

That timing gives the visit weight. Israeli troops remain in parts of southern Lebanon months after the latest war with Hezbollah, and hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced. Beirut is trying to restore state control in the south while fighting, occupation, and Hezbollah’s armed status all collide in the same narrow strip of territory.

How much is Beirut asking Washington to force into the June 26 framework?

Aoun is expected to bring Trump a written proposal on how Hezbollah’s arsenal could be dismantled while securing Israel’s withdrawal under the U.S.-brokered agreement, according to a Lebanese official who spoke to Reuters.

Before leaving Beirut, Aoun said he would urge Trump to “exert the necessary pressure on Israel” to implement the agreement. The framework envisions three linked steps: Hezbollah’s disarmament, a gradual Israeli troop withdrawal, and a path toward more stable relations between Lebanon and Israel.

That sequencing is the hard part. Hezbollah rejects direct Lebanese negotiations with Israel and rejects efforts to strip the group of its weapons. Israel, according to the source material, has insisted it will not fully withdraw unless Hezbollah is disarmed and demilitarised.

The Washington visit follows another round of U.S.-mediated talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Rome earlier this week. Those talks focused on how to implement the June framework.

For readers following the wider Washington and regional files, this Lebanon push is unfolding alongside separate XOOMAR coverage of Power Plants in Crosshairs as Trump Iran Threats Hit Hormuz and 103 Democrats Revolt Against Military Aid to Israel. Those stories are separate from Aoun’s visit, but they sit in the same policy arena: Trump-era decisions on Israel, Iran, and U.S. power in the region.

Can Aoun confront Hezbollah and still hold Lebanon together?

Aoun, 62, is a former commander of Lebanon’s U.S.-backed armed forces. He was elected president last year after Lebanon spent more than two years without a head of state.

His presidency was born in a changed political moment. Al Jazeera reports that Israel’s 2024 offensive weakened Hezbollah, while the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad deprived the Iran-backed group of one of its closest regional allies.

At his swearing-in ceremony, Aoun vowed to restore the state’s “monopoly on arms.” That pledge made Hezbollah disarmament a defining test of his presidency, not a side issue.

Lebanese troops later deployed across parts of southern Lebanon to collect Hezbollah weapons caches under a ceasefire agreement after the 2024 war. The effort became more difficult after fighting flared again in March, when Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of Iran, which was under attack by Israel and the U.S. Israel then launched another offensive in Lebanon.

Aoun has since sharpened his criticism of Hezbollah. In a virtual meeting with European Union officials in March, he said the group places “no value on Lebanon’s interest nor on the life of its people” and was acting “for the sake of the calculations of the Iranian regime”.

That language matters. A Lebanese president openly blaming Hezbollah for dragging the country into war gives Washington a partner it can publicly praise, but it also raises the domestic cost for Aoun if the talks produce no visible Israeli withdrawal.

What decision does Trump face when Aoun arrives Tuesday?

The next move belongs to Trump. Aoun is expected to press for more than diplomatic encouragement when he meets the U.S. president Tuesday.

The practical asks are clear from the source material: pressure on Israel to implement the June 26 agreement, backing for an initial troop withdrawal, support for the Lebanese state’s authority in the south, and a framework that links Hezbollah disarmament to de-escalation rather than another round of war.

XOOMAR analysis: Aoun’s risk is asymmetry. He is offering a politically explosive move inside Lebanon, curbing Hezbollah’s arms, while asking Trump to deliver something Israel controls, withdrawal from occupied parts of the south. If Washington praises Aoun but does not move Israel toward the first pullback, Hezbollah can portray the diplomacy as a trap.

A successful visit for Beirut would likely need a clearer U.S. commitment to implementation of the Trilateral Framework, not just another statement of support. The first measurable sign would be movement on the “initial Israeli troop withdrawal” Aoun raised with Rubio.

The longer question won’t be answered this week. It is whether Aoun can turn U.S. backing into a sequence that both Israel and Lebanon can act on, before the Israel-Hezbollah fight leaves the June 26 framework looking like another document overtaken by events.

Impact Analysis

• Aoun is seeking U.S. backing for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon under the June 26 agreement.
• Washington is tying support to Lebanon restoring state authority and moving against Hezbollah’s weapons infrastructure.
• The rare White House-level visit signals renewed U.S. engagement in Lebanon’s security and sovereignty crisis.