Trump claims 'great appetite' for background checks as GOP looks elsewhere

President Donald Trump on Wednesday reasserted his support for legislating changes to background checks for firearm sales, but claimed there exists “no political appetite” in Congress for restrictions on the sale of assault rifles.

“I can tell you that there is no political appetite for that at this moment,” Trump told reporters outside the White House, adding that he “will certainly bring that up” in talks with lawmakers on gun reform measures in the coming days.

“There is a great appetite, and I mean a very strong appetite, for background checks. And I think we can bring up background checks like we've never had before,” Trump said. “I think both Republican[s] and Democrat[s] are getting close to a bill on, to doing something with background checks.”

Despite Trump’s predictions for an imminent deal on background checks, the prospects for such legislation on Capitol Hill appear dim, with Republican lawmakers more focused on passing “red-flag” legislation like the proposal Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has pledged to introduce.

Public polling suggests widespread public support for universal background checks, a policy that all Democratic presidential candidates support. The party's 25 White House contenders, as well as a large swath of Americans, also support an assault weapons ban, with some calling for a voluntary or mandatory federal buyback program to keep the military-style rifles off the street.

The president's remarks Wednesday came as he and first lady Melania Trump departed for Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, to visit first responders, law enforcement and victims in the two communities savaged by mass shootings over the weekend that left at least 31 people dead and dozens more injured.

Trump had suggested in

Twitter

Monday morning “perhaps marrying” background check legislation to immigration reform. But he appeared to retreat from that potential compromise three hours later in a televised address, instead calling for the implementation of “red flag” laws to confiscate weapons from “those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety.”

House Democrats approved a bill in February with some Republican support mandating federal criminal background checks on all gun sales, which Trump previously vowed to veto if it reached his desk. Democratic lawmakers in recent days have urged Senate Majority Leader Mtich McConnell (R-Ky.) to take up the measure.

Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine