When Lebanese President Joseph Aoun walks into the Oval Office on Tuesday, he will carry a written plan to disarm Hezbollah and a plea for President Donald Trump to pressure Israel out of southern Lebanon. The meeting, the first White House visit by a Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years, marks a pivotal moment for a country caught between a weakened but defiant militant group and an Israeli military campaign that has killed thousands. Main Developments Aoun will present Trump with a detailed written proposal on how to decommission Hezbollah's vast arsenal, according to a Lebanese official. The plan builds on a U.S.-brokered June 26 agreement between Lebanon and Israel that aims to disarm the Iran-backed group, secure a progressive Israeli troop withdrawal, and lay groundwork for peaceful bilateral ties. The Lebanese president believes only Trump possesses the leverage needed to force Israel's withdrawal and help restore Lebanese sovereignty, his office said last week. Aoun has already called for direct talks with Israel—a historic shift for a state repeatedly invaded by its neighbor since 1978—leading to the highest-level face-to-face contacts in decades. Read also: 4 Key Deals in $850M Pakistan-China Pharma Conference Background Aoun, a 62-year-old Maronite Christian, became president last year after a two-year vacuum, succeeding Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun (no relation). His election reflected a major power shift following Israel's devastating 2024 offensive against Hezbollah and the ousting of the group's Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad—seismic events that weakened the militant organization's long-decisive hold over the state. A career soldier who served as U.S.-backed army commander, Aoun was wounded twice and still carries shrapnel. He oversaw a campaign against Islamic State militants at the Syrian border and led the military through Lebanon's 2019 financial collapse, warning that the crisis would destroy "the backbone of the country" and publicly criticizing politicians as soldiers went hungry. At his swearing-in, Aoun vowed to affirm "the state's right to a monopoly on arms." His first year saw government efforts to secure Hezbollah's disarmament, with Lebanese troops deploying in the south to collect weapons caches—without opposition from a weakened Hezbollah—following the 2024 ceasefire. Why It Matters The stakes are existential for Lebanon. Israeli troops occupy a swathe of the south, hundreds of thousands remain displaced after Israeli strikes, and Hezbollah has firmly rejected both direct talks with Israel and state efforts to strip it of its arms. Aoun's gambit could determine whether Lebanon can finally assert sovereignty over its entire territory or remain a battlefield for regional proxies. Hezbollah, founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, triggered the current war on March 2 by firing at Israel in support of Iran, which was under U.S. and Israeli attack. Israel's response has killed more than 4,300 people, including nearly 800 children, women, and medics, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Aoun has criticized Hezbollah for starting the war, saying Lebanon "was being destroyed for the sake of Iran," but stopped short of agreeing to Trump's call for him to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What's Next Trump's response to Aoun's disarmament proposal will set the tone for whether the U.S. applies pressure on Israel to withdraw. The June 26 agreement remains the framework, but its implementation hinges on Hezbollah's cooperation—which the group has so far refused. Aoun has pledged to pursue long-delayed economic reforms and justice for victims of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, but those promises depend on stability that remains elusive.