President Trump met Friday with National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre to discuss how the gun rights organization could possibly provide financial assistance to help defend the president as he faces a scandal, The New York Times reported Friday, citing two people familiar with the situation.
An administration official confirmed to The Hill that Trump and LaPierre met, but did not say what they discussed.
The Times reported that it was not clear who initiated the meeting, but that in it, LaPierre requested that the White House “stop the games” on gun control legislation.
Following mass shootings earlier this year, Trump has floated various possible gun legislation measures. According to the Times, LaPierre has attempted to sway Trump against background check measures the president said he could support.
{mosads}“It’s no secret the president wants meaningful solutions to protect American communities and potentially stop one of these tragedies from ever happening again,” White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told the Times. “and he’s going to continue doing his job even though Democrats refuse to do theirs.”
The Hill has reached out to the NRA for comment.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) this week announced a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump after revelations that he had pressured Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing on his call with Zelensky.
Meanwhile, the NRA has been shaken by a series of scandals in recent weeks.
On Friday, House Democrats released a report saying that the organization “became a foreign asset” for Russia ahead of the 2016 election although an attorney for the NRA decried the report as politically motivated.