President Donald Trump has said that U.S. domestic airlines will begin flying to Beirut after meeting with Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun.
Flights To Beirut
In a post on the social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said that Aoun had done a “remarkable job” of transforming Lebanon. Trump then shared that he will “allow U.S. airline carriers to fly directly to Lebanon,” calling it a “beautiful land.” He then said that he hoped other countries would follow suit and begin flying directly to the country.
United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Airlines did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
Notably, U.S. airlines have not flown to Beirut since 1985, when the TWA Flight 847 from Greece to Italy was hijacked and forced to land in Beirut. The U.S. Department of State also has a “Do not travel” advisory for Americans to Lebanon currently in place.
“Do not travel to Lebanon for any reason due to the risk of crime, terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, landmines, and armed conflict,” the advisory says.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took to X on Tuesday, sharing a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post. “You got it, Mr. President,” he said.
According to a report by Reuters on Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that it “looks forward to working with airlines… to implement the President’s directive and support the safe return of flights to Lebanon.”
Iran War
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) slammed Trump for the ongoing war with Iran, criticizing the high prices in the U.S. as well as lamenting the lives lost of service members amid the conflict. Sanders also termed the war “unconstitutional.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the war in Iran had cost $37.5 billion since it kicked off in February this year. Iran’s Speaker of the Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on the other hand, criticized the Trump administration for the U.S.’s contradictory actions.
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