Trump thanks NRA for support, tells members at annual convention they have a friend in White House.

ATLANTA — President Trump received a thunderous welcome from thousands of gun lovers as he appeared Friday at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention to thank the group for its unwavering support of his presidential campaign.

A supporter of restrictions on guns before he entered politics, Trump became a fierce champion of gun rights during his long-shot bid for the White House, earning early backing — and $30 million in campaign support — from the powerful lobbying group.

“Only one candidate in the general election came to speak to you, and that candidate is now the president of the United States, standing before you,” Trump said. “You came through for me, and I am going to come through for you.”

The president was received as a hero, in part for successfully installing a conservative Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch, seen as a likely protector of the Second Amendment. And in turn, he treated the gun convention like a political rally, joyfully recalling his election victory and mocking the journalists and Democrats who were confident that he would lose.

He brashly predicted that he would have no problem dispatching any rival during a 2020 re-election campaign, suggesting at one point that Democrats might nominate Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. He referred to her as he did during the campaign, derisively calling her Pocahontas, a reference to claims she once made about being part Native American.

“It may be Pocahontas, remember that,” he said, prompting laughter in the cavernous room. “She is not big for the NRA, that I can tell you.”

Before the president’s arrival, attendees watched hours of videos assailing former President Barack Obama, Democrats and anyone who has advocated gun control measures. The crowd erupted in boos when the large screens showed campaign commercials from last year attacking Hillary Clinton, the losing Democratic nominee.

They also laughed as television clips showed members of the news media, Hollywood stars and even Obama predicting confidently that Trump would never be elected president.

“The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end,” Trump told the crowd after assailing Obama’s record on guns. Now, he said, “You have a true friend and champion in the White House.”

Trump has made some modest moves in support of gun rights. He signed legislation that reversed an Obama-era rule that would have required the Social Security Administration to provide information about mentally ill people for background checks on gun purchases.

Leaders of the NRA heaped praise on Trump.

Chris Cox, executive director of the group’s political and lobbying arm, called Trump the “most proudly pro-gun presidential candidate” in history.