FILE - In this March 23, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump responds to reporters' questions in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington after he spoke about the $1.3 trillion spending bill he signed earlier in the day. The presidential news conference, a time-honored tradition going back generations, appears to be no longer. Instead, the president engages the press in more informal settings that aides say offer reporters far more access, more often, than past administrations. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - In this March 23, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump responds to reporters' questions in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington after he spoke about the $1.3 trillion spending bill he signed earlier in the day. The presidential news conference, a time-honored tradition going back generations, appears to be no longer. Instead, the president engages the press in more informal settings that aides say offer reporters far more access, more often, than past administrations. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will both speak at the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday.

A White House official said Monday that Trump will attend the group’s annual meeting. Trump has been a strong supporter of the NRA and enjoyed their backing in his 2016 campaign. Pence had already been scheduled to address the group.

After a deadly shooting in February at a high school in Parkland, Florida, Trump suggested he was open to new gun control measures. He held a meeting with senators, declaring that he would stand up to the gun lobby and calling for a “comprehensive” bill.

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But Trump later backpedaled from those sweeping statements, offering a more limited plan. After he advocated increasing the minimum age to purchase an assault weapon to 21, Trump tweeted there was “not much political support” for the idea.