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A vice president of the NRA expressed in a letter that Donald J. Trump has lost confidence in the organization and that they need to work on rebuilding trust with him and his closest advisers.
Written by Danny Hakim
According to a senior official at the National Rifle Association, President-elect Donald J. Trump no longer trusts the organization. The official wrote a letter to other board members expressing the need for the NRA to regroup in order to support the Republican Party’s advantage in Congress during the 2026 midterm elections.
Bill Bachenberg, the first vice president of the group and a strong supporter of Trump, informed other board members that Trump was disappointed that the NRA did not do more to support him during this year’s election. Bachenberg also mentioned that Trump was surprised to learn that the NRA was paying millions of dollars annually to a lawyer, William A. Brewer III, who has historically donated more to Democratic candidates.
In a recent letter, Mr. Bachenberg and Mark Vaughan stated that President Trump and his close advisors no longer have confidence in the National Rifle Association (N.R.A.). They mentioned that they are in frequent communication with them and have a lot of work to do to regain their trust, as well as that of their members and donors.
When asked for a comment, Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition, responded by stating that President Trump believes all Americans have the right to protect themselves and their families, and he supports law-abiding gun owners.
The letter shows that the N.R.A. has lost some of its political power. It used to be a powerful lobbying group in Washington, but scandals and corruption accusations have weakened it. There is a split within the organization between supporters of former CEO Wayne LaPierre and another group, led by Mr. Bachenberg, that wants to move away from LaPierre’s controversial leadership.
Doug Hamlin, the newly appointed leader of the N.R.A., mentioned in a statement that due to the organization’s significant spending to protect itself from a legal case filed by Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, they will need to focus their efforts strategically in the upcoming 2024 election.
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