Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Aoun is pushing for a full rollout of a US-backed agreement signed on June 26, and he is preparing to hand President Donald Trump a written plan for taking away Hezbollah's weapons, according to Al Jazeera.

Hezbollah is an armed political group in Lebanon that has held significant power for decades, operating outside the government's control. Dismantling its arsenal means taking those weapons out of Hezbollah's hands so that only the Lebanese government's own military and police are allowed to carry arms.

Aoun told Rubio that Lebanon and the United States needed to work together to put the June 26 agreement into effect, according to a post on X from the Lebanese presidency. The US State Department said Rubio praised the Lebanese government's efforts to "reclaim sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah, dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace" and confirmed that the two discussed implementation of the Trilateral Framework (US State Department).

Aoun and First Lady Naima Aoun arrived at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday, July 18, according to the Lebanese presidency. Aoun is scheduled to meet Trump on Tuesday, July 21, and will also hold talks with members of the US Senate and other administration officials. This is the first visit by a Lebanese head of state to Washington since 2009, when President Michel Sleiman met Barack Obama. That seventeen-year gap reflects how long Lebanon has gone without stable leadership.

Joseph Aoun, 62, is a former commander of Lebanon's armed forces, which receive US support. He was elected president after more than two years without anyone holding the role. His military background gives his Washington visit a practical edge that a civilian leader might not have. Before leaving Beirut, Aoun said he would urge Trump to put pressure on Israel to carry out the June 26 agreement. A Lebanese official told Reuters that Aoun believes Trump is in a unique position to push Israel to withdraw its troops and help Lebanon regain full control over its own territory.

The main thing Aoun is bringing to the White House is a written proposal, reported by Reuters, that outlines how Hezbollah's weapons could be taken away while also securing Israel's withdrawal. Think of it like a trade: Lebanon agrees to disarm Hezbollah, and in exchange Israel pulls its troops out. In the past, these two steps were expected to happen one after the other. Aoun is now saying they should happen together, at the same time. By linking them, he is telling Washington that Lebanon will only disarm Hezbollah if Israel agrees to withdraw, and that the US, as the mediator, needs to make sure both sides follow through.

The June 26 agreement was formally signed at a ceremony in Washington by Secretary Rubio, Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter. It came out of a diplomatic process that sped up over the spring. Rubio hosted the first direct talks between Lebanese and Israeli representatives on April 14, as reported by Reuters. A ceasefire, a temporary stop to the fighting, went into effect shortly after, on April 17, according to Euronews. On June 1, Reuters reported that Rubio had spoken separately with Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a new US proposal to ease tensions between the two countries. The Washington visit also follows US-mediated talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials in Rome earlier in the week of July 19.

Rubio stated in late April that both Lebanon and Israel had agreed on dismantling Hezbollah, as reported by Asharq Al-Awsat. But agreeing on the goal is different from agreeing on how to get there. The big open questions are how the disarmament will happen, how fast, and who will enforce it. The Trilateral Framework provides the structure. Aoun's proposal is an attempt to fill in those missing details.

The broader context here is that Lebanon is trying to turn a period of relative calm into a lasting peace deal. The central bargain, Lebanon takes back control of its territory in exchange for Israel pulling out its troops, has not yet been tested in practice. Aoun's bet is that meeting Trump in person can create the political will on Israel's side that lower-level talks have not. Whether that bet works depends on two things: whether his written proposal has enough detail on timelines to satisfy Israel's security concerns, and whether the Trump administration is willing to pressure Israel to withdraw, something Lebanon cannot force on its own. Aoun's meetings with senators suggest he is also building support in Congress, in case pressure from the president alone is not enough.

The Tuesday meeting with Trump will be the key moment. If Aoun can return to Beirut with a concrete timeline for action, rather than just words of encouragement, the June 26 agreement could move from a piece of paper into something that actually changes the situation on the ground.