Donald Trump makes major play with president of Lebanon after staunch Netanyahu snub

President Donald Trump made a major political play with the president of Lebanon shortly after he staunchly snubbed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Tueday, the Lebanese Embassy in Washington said on Telegram that the White House invited President Joseph Aoun to chat on July 21, which comes a day after Aoun categorically rejected any possibility of a meeting between himself and Netanyahu.

Aoun said he would immediately leave the premises if he found himself in Netanyahu’s vicinity, issuing a scathing statement to Lebanese daily newspaper An-Nahar.

“There is no truth to reports about a meeting with Netanyahu,” Aoun said. “I am not considering it, and I will not respond to it as long as Israeli attacks on Lebanese citizens and violations of Lebanese territory continue.”

“If we found ourselves in the same room, I would leave immediately,” the Lebanese president added.

Aoun has agreed to open talks with Israel as part of a new agreement outlined under American mediation, but he continues to reject any sort of face-to-face meeting with Netanyahu — even though such an idea has been floated by U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days.

Trump is set to meet with Aoun on July 21, and he’s likely to also meet with Netanyahu over the next couple of weeks. The latter and he had a phone call recently, after which Netanyahu adamantly maintained that his “friendship” with the U.S. leader remains “fine.”

Aoun’s statements come after the signing of a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon, which calls for a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from certain areas in southern Lebanon as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The Lebanese president believes a cessation of hostilities is an indispensable prerequisite for any sort of political progress between the two countries.

Hezbollah condemned the agreement, refusing to lay down its arms. Naïm Qassem, its secretary general, called the text a “humiliating agreement” and a “capitulation,” adding that “without Hezbollah, nothing will go through.”

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Aoun has continued to defend the agreement despite those criticisms, stating that it presents the only realistic way to avoid a new war between Israel and Lebanon.

On Monday, Netanyahu insisted that his relationship with Trump is “fine,” despite reports that the American president’s patience with the Israeli leader is faltering.

Netanyahu appeared on Fox & Friends on Monday to discuss the most pressing issues facing his administration, including the war in Iran and his alliances with other Middle Eastern countries.