--- title: Donald Trump to Address NRA Convention description: President Trump is set to be the first sitting president since the 1980s to address the NRA convention. canonical: https://time.com/4759118/donald-trump-nra-convention/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-28T11:43:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T08:48:46.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch Live: President Trump Addresses Annual NRA Convention og:description: He's the first sitting president to do so since Reagan og:url: https://time.com/4759118/donald-trump-nra-convention/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b0a7b597326339/6988cb0e97cdffd0426b077d/gettyimages-674141232.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: President Trump speaks at the Department of Veterans Affairs og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Live: President Trump Addresses Annual NRA Convention twitter:description: He's the first sitting president to do so since Reagan twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9b0a7b597326339/6988cb0e97cdffd0426b077d/gettyimages-674141232.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Live: President Trump Addresses Annual NRA Convention > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=98534277-1acc-4685-abde-dfd662bad423&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. He's the first sitting president to do so since Reagan_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:48 AM UTCPublished: Apr 28, 2017 11:43 AM UTC  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:48 AM UTCPublished: Apr 28, 2017 11:43 AM UTC President Donald Trump is set to be the first sitting president since the 1980s to address the National Rifle Association when he heads to their annual forum Friday. “Protecting gun rights, expanding gun rights and getting rid of legislation and gun rights restrictions in this country to make the Second Amendment more powerful than it ever has been before,” NRA spokesperson Jason Brown [told NPR](http://www.npr.org/2017/04/28/525930318/trump-to-be-first-sitting-president-since-reagan-to-address-nra) of what the group wants to hear from the president’s speech. The NRA played a critical role in helping get Trump elected, [according to a Washington _Post_ analysis](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-returns-to-the-nra-which-backed-him-early-and-often-in-2016/2017/04/27/689fa9aa-2ac7-11e7-be51-b3fc6ff7faee%5Fstory.html?sf74254279=1&utm%5Fterm=.9917639a30e9), spending more than three times as much money supporting Trump as it spent boosting Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. The last sitting president to address the NRA was Ronald Reagan in 1983, NPR reports, who largely spoke about the link between gun rights and environmental policy. Trump has been inconsistent in his positions on gun control over the course of his life. In his book _The America We Deserve_ from 2000, Trump wrote that he supported a ban on assault weapons and a longer waiting period to purchase a gun. But he has said he’s since [changed his mind](http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2016/apr/12/donald-trump/donald-trump-fully-flip-flops-lately-opposes-ban-a/), and during his campaign for president he said he would [end gun-free zones](http://time.com/4091988/republican-debate-donald-trump-guns/?iid=sr-link1) and that terror attacks like the ones in San Bernardino or Paris [could have been prevented](http://time.com/4113333/paris-attacks-donald-trump/?iid=sr-link2) if the civilians were armed. 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