Exclusive: Trump demanded direct talks with Hezbollah but was denied
Donald Trump called the Lebanese ambassador in Washington in late May and demanded a direct conversation with Hezbollah, a request that was then denied to the US president, Middle East Eye can reveal.
According to two sources intimately familiar with events from the Hezbollah side and a Lebanese diplomatic source, Trump called Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad in frustration as the ceasefire in Lebanon frayed.
Soon after, on 1 June, Trump claimed he had spoken to Hezbollah through unidentified intermediaries and secured a commitment from the group to halt attacks against Israel.
“Through highly placed representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform at the time.
According to the Hezbollah sources, Trump’s request rattled Lebanese officials, who were confused about whose number they should offer the president.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
“Officials then began to panic and try and find a phone number for anyone in Hezbollah. They were calling anyone they knew who was Shia, even random sheikhs, to try to find the right person to speak to,” one source said.
However, a senior diplomatic source said officials made no such attempts.
“Before Trump announced that he had communicated with Hezbollah, he contacted Ambassador Nada Moawad,” the diplomatic source said.
“He angrily told her that he wanted to speak to someone from Hezbollah. The ambassador responded that she was unable to arrange such contact.”
Middle East Eye has asked the White House for comment.
Politically difficult position
According to a source familiar with the conversations, Moawad then informed the Lebanese presidency of the exchange and asked how she should proceed.
“The ambassador contacted the presidential palace and explained what had happened,” the source said.
“She was instructed not to do anything and to disregard the request.”
The source said Lebanese officials feared that facilitating direct contact would place the presidency in a politically difficult position.
Since April, the Lebanese government and presidency had been attempting to be the sole representatives of Lebanon in any international negotiations.
The US-Israeli war on Iran spilled over into Lebanon in March after Hezbollah responded to the killing of the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, by firing six rockets into Israel.
When Iran agreed a ceasefire with the United States in April, it demanded the devastating Israeli attacks in Lebanon end simultaneously.
While the Lebanese state welcomed any ceasefire, it then sought to centre itself as the sole representative of the country and decouple the conflicts, and began direct negotiations with Israel under American auspices.
“The assessment was that direct contact between Trump and Hezbollah would negatively affect the presidency’s image,” the source said.
“Hezbollah itself communicates with the presidency through channels, while the American president was asking to speak to the group directly.”
Earlier attempts
A senior Lebanese security official told MEE that Trump’s claim came after several unsuccessful American attempts to establish a channel with Hezbollah.
“There have been many repeated offers from the United States, both previously and under the current administration, to open channels of communication with Hezbollah,” the source said.
“They were all rejected. The political decision within the group has been not to open direct communication with the Americans.”
According to the source, the most recent approach was made through the CIA station in Beirut, which asked a senior Lebanese security figure to facilitate contact with Hezbollah.
'The political decision within the group has been not to open direct communication with the Americans'
- Military official
“The response was the same: the request was rejected,” the source said.
“There had also been an earlier attempt, before Trump’s statement, to open a channel through a former senior security official. That attempt received the same response.”
The US government designates Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation and has long maintained a formal policy of refusing direct political engagement with the group.
According to a senior Lebanese official, the US embassy in Beirut had no knowledge that Trump was going to try and speak to Hezbollah directly before he called Moawad.
“The US embassy in Beirut contacted an intermediary whom it believed was in communication with Hezbollah and asked him to establish whether contact had actually taken place between Trump and the group, because the embassy in Lebanon knew nothing about it,” the source said.
“The answer came back that no such communication had taken place.”
One version circulated after Trump’s announcement suggested that the exchange had taken place through Abdallah Safieddine, a Hezbollah representative in Tehran, during US-Iran negotiations held in Islamabad.
“But, according to our information, Abdallah Safieddine did not travel to Islamabad in the first place,” a source familiar with the matter said.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
