President Donald Trump and a top executive at the National Rifle Association announced on Thursday night that they had a productive meeting in the oval office on the topic of gun policy.
"Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!" Trump tweeted at 7:04 p.m. on Thursday.
Trump did not mention any of the details of the meeting and instead moved on Friday morning to tweeting support for his new plan to increase tariffs on aluminum and steel and attacking actor Alec Baldwin. Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, tweeted that the meeting was great. His account offered more insights into what was discussed and potential movement away from what the president had advocated during a televised meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday.
"I had a great meeting tonight with @realDonaldTrump & @VP," Cox tweeted at 9:07 p.m. on Thursday. "We all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people. POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don't want gun control. #NRA #MAGA"
Trump had previously received push back from the NRA and praise from gun-control groups for advocating that a number of new gun-control proposals, largely supported by Democrats, be added to a bipartisan bill strengthening the current background check system while waving off the idea of adding national gun-carry reciprocity to the deal. He suggested expanding background checks to used gun sales between private parties, banning anyone under 21 from owning firearms—certain semiautomatic rifles in particular—further domestic-violence-related restrictions on gun ownership, and seizing guns from certain people before going through due process at different points throughout the nationally televised discussion.
Trump's performance during the meeting threw prospects for the bipartisan bill, known as Fix NICS, into doubt as it is unlikely to pass with the additions suggested by the president, but Democratic leaders are now unlikely to support a stand-alone bill. Some Senate GOP staffers said they remain unsure of exactly what the president wants.
"I don't think anyone on the Hill thinks that pinballing from a train-wreck meeting to a clean-up tweet sets the White House's legislative priorities in stone," a senior GOP aide told the Washington Free Beacon.