It's the first time these two leaders have met face to face, and it's the first visit by a Lebanese president to Washington since 2009. Talks will center on a US backed framework agreement signed last month between Lebanon and Israel, aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hezbollah for good. Aoun called the deal not ideal in an earlier interview, but said it reflects the real balance of power in southern Lebanon right now. He's asked the Lebanese army to begin a phased security handover, starting with a pilot deployment in the town of Zawtar. That's a small first step, but it's the one he's betting everything on.
Trouble is, Trump's attention right now is mostly on Iran, not Lebanon. Fighting between the US and Iran has flared up again in recent days, and one analyst described Lebanon as a secondary issue for Washington at the moment. Aoun still wants Trump to press Israel on withdrawing troops and to help build up Lebanon's own army. Israel hasn't committed to any timetable for pulling out, and that's left plenty of Lebanese officials uneasy about how much this meeting can actually deliver.
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