Trump Signals Resumption of US-Lebanon Direct Flights After 40 Years

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he'll allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon more than 40 years after the US suspended the route. Direct flights between the US and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan's administration following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. 

"I am hereby directing my Administration to allow all US airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon so that Americans can easily visit this beautiful land," Trump said in a social media post after meeting earlier on Tuesday with Lebanese President



Joseph Aoun.

During a White House meeting on Tuesday with the country's leader, Joseph Aoun, Trump pledged to help Lebanon "a lot." Aoun came to Washington to push for long-term calm after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. 

The US has pushed for peace in Lebanon but been increasingly distracted by a new round of escalation with the war in Iran, which has destabilised much of the Middle East. Trump recently said he had little interest in talks with Iran's leader to end the war - at least for now.