SerpApi.Org
President Donald Trump greeted the Lebanese president at the White House on Tuesday ahead of a bilateral meeting closed to the press.
Joseph Aoun's visit to the White House sits at the conclusion of a four-day visit to Washington and comes as his country remains at war with Israel and the Iran-backed group, Hezbollah. The meeting with Trump came as the leaders from both countries held direct talks to end the conflict, which was mediated by Washington.
This is the first time since 2009 a Lebanese president has visited the White House. According to sources, Lebanon is hoping that the talks will lead to Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon. It comes after Trump was slammed for a 'disgusting' act towards the families of US soldiers who died in the Iran war.
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Trump started the question-and-answer portion of the meeting in the Oval Office by telling a reporter that they didn't "know anything" about the conflict in Iran.
"Mr. President, there are no signs that Iran is ready to stop fighting," the journalist commented. "So what is the plan? Is the plan to just keep bombing until they give up?"
"What?"Trump fired back. "Do you know something I don't know?"
"Well, they continue to attack our allies and kill Americans," the reporter answered, but was cut off by the president, who claimed that they did not know what was going on behind the scenes.
"They want to meet desperately to try and end it because they're getting decimated," Trump claimed. "You don't get that when you listen to your fake station. But you don't know. You don't know anything."
"So talks are still possible?" pressed the reporter. The comment prompted the president to repeat his question of asking the reporter if there was something she knew, but he didn't.
"Well, tell us," said the reporter, finally fed up with the president's aggressive answer. Trump then reiterated the notion that Iran wants "to desperately meet."
"And until they're ready to meet in a meaningful way, we have no interest in even," he added with a note of finality. The exchange drew ire of many people on social media.
Weak and desperate
"This is a sign of a weak and desperate president," one person chimed in. "The reality is Iran's military is not defeated and they are killing Americans."
"Sounds like a game of telephone where the message got lost in translation, and the only thing clear is the need for a better script," a second person commented. Another person joked that Iran wanted to make a deal just like Mitch McConnell, who has not been seen in over a month, "wants to go skydiving with me today."
"Ironic given that Trump can’t even put a full sentence together," another person sneered. "This man has no idea what he is doing."
One person halfheartedly tried to defend the president, claiming that there may be information the public does not know. "There likely is a lot of classified info we don’t know, which is an indictment on how war powers have become so cloaked in secrecy," they added.
It comes after a lip reader exposed FIFA boss Gianni Infantino's desperate plea to Trump that he ignored in a humiliating moment.
