Will Trump’s vow on guns ricochet?
His ideas about immigration were followed by U-turn
WASHINGTON — After two weeks of shifting musings on gun measures, President Donald Trump is expected to miss a self-imposed deadline to produce specific proposals on Friday, according to aides — in the latest sign of how chaos in the White House is hampering policymaking.
Lawmakers from both parties have told Trump they can only succeed in passing the comprehensive package of gun safety proposals he’s asked for if he leads the debate, and provides Republicans with political cover to stand up to the formidable gun lobbies in a perilous election year. Even so, many fear the president won’t keep his word given his reversals in the past, notably on immigration and health care.
The difficulties the administration has had in forging and communicating a policy to respond to the shooting deaths of 17 students and staff members at a Florida high school two weeks ago highlight how, more than a year into his tenure, Trump has been unable to translate his impulses into actual legislative proposals, or stick to positions long enough to do so.
Just two months ago, with the new year beginning and momentum from a major victory on a tax cut bill, Trump advisers and many outside observers thought the White House had made progress toward solving that problem. But Trump’s erratic actions on immigration, infrastructure policy, trade and now gun safety, combined with the departures of several close aides, have once again shown that any such progress is likely always to be tentative in his administration.
Gun control groups and some lawmakers, especially Democrats, seized on Trump’s recent comments to express cautious optimism Thursday that, in the wake of the latest mass shooting, in Parkland, Fla., Washington could end a years-long stalemate and enact some gun restrictions.
By their remarks, they sought to hold Trump to his promises made a day earlier during a televised session at the White House at which Trump embraced several positions long opposed by the National Rifle Association — and Republicans.
“He hasn’t rescinded anything he’s said,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who was at the meeting, counting the number of hours Trump had gone by Thursday afternoon without disavowing his Wednesday promises. “We’re waiting, we’re hoping.”
At the White House meeting, he told a bipartisan group of lawmakers that he would ban so-called bump stocks by regulation. He asked them to send him “one terrific bill” — to set a minimum age of 21 for purchasing assault weapons; strengthen background checks for buyers, especially to keep guns from the mentally ill, and provide for restraining orders for gun owners in domestic violence cases, among other provisions. He shocked Democrats and Republicans by leaving open the possibility he’d support an assault weapons ban.
Even the professed optimists on the gun control side didn’t expect the kind of comprehensive package that Trump urged on Congress.
Less than two months ago, Feinstein was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers at another White House session, exchanging smiles, policy ideas and vows of action on immigration — only to see Trump soon reverse course and, within weeks, ultimately doom several bipartisan bills by his condemnations.
A senior White House official said the administration would not meet Trump’s Friday deadline to announce gun policy proposals because officials are following up with lawmakers on issues discussed Wednesday.
“We’re not talking weeks here. We’re talking days,” the official added.
Meanwhile, the NRA was working to slow any followup from Trump on gun control measures, telling CNN his meeting with lawmakers amounted to “great TV” but bad policy that would infringe on gun owners’ constitutional rights.
Gun control groups, in contrast, looked to Trump for the follow-up that would persuade Republicans to stand up to the NRA, as the president had urged.
“He needs to give them a backbone and he needs to tell them it is time to walk away from the NRA, just like American businesses are doing,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that advocates for gun limits.
In an early sign of slowing momentum, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters that he would not schedule action on any gun-related legislation next week, focusing on banking regulations instead.
Democrats worked to keep guns at the center of debate. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California pressed Trump not to repeat the immigration experience, listing Democratic policy priorities and imploring Republican lawmakers to buck the NRA.