Trump says US to resume direct flights to Lebanon

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration would allow US airlines to resume direct flights to Lebanon, ending a suspension that has been in place for more than four decades.

"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 post on his Truth Social after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House earlier in the day.

Direct commercial flights between the United States and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 under then US President Ronald Reagan in the wake of the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, during which militants linked to Hezbollah held 153 passengers and crew hostage for 17 days and killed US navy diver Robert Stethem.

Aoun is the first Lebanese head of state to visit the White House since 2009.