President Trump tweeted Thursday about his more than hour-long meeting at the White House Wednesday which brought together congressional Republicans and Democrats for a discussion on how to proceed on meaningful gun legislation, following the latest in a string of deadly mass shootings in the United States. The meeting, which cameras were allowed to document in its entirety, captured a more willing Mr. Trump engaging in negotiations, pleasing many of the Democrats in the room.
He tweeted on Thursday, “Many ideas, some good and some not so good, emerged from our bipartisan meeting on school safety.”
He said that the issue of strengthening the nation’s background check system was a “big part” of the conversation in the Roosevelt Room, while also asserting that “gun free zones are proven targets of killers” — a notion he has repeatedly raised during discussions of arming teachers as a means to prevent school shootings.
Mr. Trump appeared to side with Democrats most of the time during Wednesday’s meeting, saying at one point, “I’m a big fan of the NRA, but that doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything.”
He pressed lawmakers for an age limit on purchasing guns and later clashed with Republicans over their support for expanding concealed carry laws, saying it should be in a “separate bill.”
“You’ll never get this passed. If you add concealed carry to this you’ll never get it passed,” he pushed.
Sen. Jeff Flake called the meeting “remarkable”, telling “CBS This Morning” that lawmakers now have renewed sense that the president has a better chance at leading in the gun debate.
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