Trump pledges fealty to NRA gun lobby

President Donald Trump pledged to uphold Americans’ right to possess guns yesterday in a speech that he used to revisit some 2016 election campaign themes from his vow to build a border wall to dismissing a Democratic senator as “Pocahontas”.
Trump pledged his allegiance to the powerful National Rifle Association, the country’s leading gun-rights advocacy group, at a convention attended by thousands.
Elected in part on a law-and-order platform, Trump was the first sitting president to address the NRA since fellow Republican Ronald Reagan in 1983.
“As your president, I will never, ever infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms,” Trump told thousands of people attending the NRA’s annual convention in Atlanta, Georgia.
Trump, whose candidacy last year was endorsed by the NRA, marks his first 100 days in office yesterday with no major legislative achievements but with a long litany of actions to loosen federal regulations and review free trade agreements.
Stymied by his initial bid to build a wall along the US-Mexican border when Congress balked at funding the initiative, Trump vowed he will sooner or later build the wall, which had been a signature campaign promise.
“We need a wall. We’ll build the wall. Don’t even think about it,” he said. Politics and his unexpected election victory on November 8 over Democrat Hillary Clinton also featured prominently in his remarks.
Speculating on who might run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, Trump brought up the name of US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and used a derogatory nickname he had adopted for her last year.
“It may be Pochahontas, and she is not big on the NRA,” Trump said of Warren, who had once said she had some Native American ancestry. Pocahontas is a legendary Native American figure from the 1600s.
Trump later attended a fund-raiser for Republican candidate Karen Handel, who will face Democrat Jon Ossoff on June 20 to determine who will win a House of Representatives seat to replace Tom Price, who became Trump’s health and human services secretary.
Trump, at the NRA event, returned time and again to the theme of responsible gun ownership.
“You have a true friend and champion in the White House,” he said. “We want to assure you of the sacred right of self defence for all of our citizens.”
Donald Trump said yesterday he’s “happy” with his achievements on the eve of his 100 days as president of the United States, despite an admission the job’s harder than he expected.
“I have to tell you, I don’t think anybody has done what we’ve been able to do in 100 days, so we’re very happy,” he told reporters after signing an executive order in the White House.
“We’re getting a lot of things done,” he said, while remarking that he thought the milestone was arbitrary, or “a false standard.”
The expression of optimism came a day after Trump revealed that he “thought it would be easier” being president.
“This is more work than in my previous life,” the property magnate and former reality-TV star told Reuters in an interview.
American media are highlighting the 100-day mark of Trump’s presidency as an early-days standard against which his performance can be measured against those of predecessors.
Issues in the spotlight include the court block on his ban on travellers from several mostly Muslim countries, and a failed bid to repeal his predecessor’s flagship health care programme known as Obamacare.
Trump’s campaign promises to renegotiate the North American Trade Agreement, address a nuclear deal with Iran he has criticised, and build a wall along the US-Mexican border are also being looked at.
Other issues include ratcheted up tensions with North Korea and an easing of aggressive rhetoric against China.
At this stage of his presidency Trump is the least popular US leader in modern history. But he is spending the 100-day milestone in friendly company.
Yesterday, he flew to the city of Atlanta to give a speech to the National Rifle Association, a powerful lobby that gave him its full-throated support early in his campaign.
Today, he will hold a rally in Pennsylvania, a state that enthusiastically embraced him during his election.