President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are addressing the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum Friday in Dallas — an event most recent sitting presidents have skipped, but one that Mr. Trump has embraced.
The president’s address comes at a time when the NRA faces intense opposition from advocates of more gun restrictions, after mass shootings like the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting that left 17 dead. The NRA’s response has been to double down on promoting Second Amendment rights. According to the local CBS station in Dallas, the city is preparing for protesters ahead of Mr Trump’s speech.
Before Mr. Trump took office, the last sitting president to address the NRA was Ronald Reagan, in 1983. Mr. Trump has addressed the group multiple times.
Mr. Trump has made a number of different and sometimes conflicting statements about the NRA. In the months since the Parkland shooting, Mr. Trump has called the NRA leadership “great people,” while jabbing some GOP lawmakers as “petrified” of the NRA for for being unwilling to contradict the group on gun control issues.
Aboard Air force One Friday on his way to the speech, Mr. Trump said, “The NRA is a truly great organization that loves this country. And we have a record crowd. You probably heard, the people are lined for a long distance.”
Follow below for live updates from the president’s address, scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. EDT.
