Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolph Haykal wrapped up a visit to Washington this week after a series of meetings with senior U.S. officials focused on the future of American military support for Lebanon, at a time of renewed tensions over Hezbollah’s role in the country.

Haykal met with Massad Boulos, a senior adviser to the U.S. president on Arab and African affairs, and held talks with influential Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. But the trip was overshadowed by a blunt public disagreement over whether the Lebanese Army views Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

After their meeting on Thursday, Graham said he had ended the discussion abruptly when Haykal indicated that, “in the context of Lebanon,” Hezbollah was not considered a terrorist group.

“I asked him point blank if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He said, ‘No, not in the context of Lebanon,’” Graham wrote on X. “With that, I ended the meeting.”

“They are clearly a terrorist organization. Hezbollah has American blood on its hands. Just ask the U.S. Marines,” Graham added, referring to the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut. “As long as this attitude exists from the Lebanese Armed Forces, I don’t think we have a reliable partner in them.”

“I am tired of the double speak in the Middle East. Too much is at stake,” he said.

Separately, Haykal held talks on Thursday with General Dan Caine, a senior U.S. military officer, according to a statement from Joint Staff spokesman Joseph Holstead. The statement provided no further details about the meeting.

Despite the controversy, Lebanese sources following the visit described it as broadly constructive. Speaking to Al-Anbaa Online, they said Haykal’s meetings were “satisfactory” in terms of the seniority of the officials he met and the discussions on continued support for the Lebanese Army.

The sources also cited comments by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who has said she would push for faster delivery of U.S. assistance to the Lebanese military. However, they cautioned that the real test would be the final position of the U.S. administration, which is expected to become clearer at an international conference in Paris scheduled for March 3–5 to rally support for Lebanon’s armed forces.

According to the sources, U.S. officials asked Haykal to provide detailed accounts of Lebanese Army operations south of the Litani River, outline his vision for the next phase, and explain how he would respond to any potential lack of compliance from Hezbollah.

Haykal, they said, reaffirmed that efforts to confine weapons exclusively to the authority of the Lebanese state are continuing. At the same time, he stressed the need to preserve civil peace and avoid any internal confrontation.