President Donald Trump backs off his call for increasing the minimum age to buy an assault weapon.

Not even two weeks ago, President Donald Trump appeared to buck the National Rifle Association — publicly endorsing Democratic-friendly gun- control ideas while mocking other Republicans as “petrified” of the powerful firearms lobby.

“They have great power over you people,” Trump said on Feb. 28, referring to theNRAwhile addressing a group of lawmakers at the White House. “They have less power over me.”

But now Trump has retreated, putting forward a modest package of gunsafety measures this week that has none of the provisions opposed by the NRA that he seemed to back days earlier. The shift provides another example of the strong influence wielded by the NRA both at the White House and on Capitol Hill, where most lawmakers remain opposed to significant policy changes in the wake of the shooting massacre that killed 17 at a Parkland, Florida, high school last month.

“I think we could all see it coming. I wish the president had televised themeeting with the NRA like he televised the meeting with us,” Sen. Chris Murphy, DConn., said Monday, referring to aMarch 1 huddle between Trump and top officials at the gun rights group. “Clearly, the NRA was more persuasive than I was.”

In the face of such criticism, Trump defended his plan in a series of tweets Monday morning.

“Very strong improvement and strengthening of background checks will be fully backed byWhiteHouse. Legislation moving forward. Bump Stocks will soon be out. Highly trained expert teachers will be allowed to conceal carry, subject to State Law. Armed guards OK, deterrent!” Trumpwrote in one Twitter message.

White House officials said Trump’s official gun plan was drafted within the confines of what Congress will allow.

Administration officials also disputed that Trump’s plan amounts to a reversal of his positions since that February meeting, when the president surprised lawmakers of both parties by appearing to back proposals to raise the purchase age for AR-15s and similar types of rifles and to expand background checks. He also declared at that meeting that law enforcement officials should “take the guns first, go through due process second” for those suspected of mental illness.

“He hasn’t backed away from these things at all,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday. “But he can’t make them happen with a broad stroke of the pen. You have to have some congressional component to do some of these things, and without that support, it’s not as possible.”

Publicly, Republican senators had dismissed Trump’s embrace of Democratic-friendly gun measures as negotiating tactics. His defenders on Capitol Hill said much the same Monday, arguing that Trump’s plan was crafted in political reality, considering the composition of Congress.