Administration

Trump NRA snub fuels questions about key GOP ally’s influence

Comments:

by Sarah Fortinsky - 04/18/26 6:00 AM ET

Comments:

Link copied

by Sarah Fortinsky - 04/18/26 6:00 AM ET

Comments:

Link copied

NOW PLAYING

President Trump is skipping the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual convention this weekend, his second snub in as many years of an organization long seen as a key political ally for Republicans.

The move marks his second consecutive absence from the NRA’s annual meeting — held this year on April 16-19 in Houston, Texas — after attending every convention since 2015.

While the prominent gun rights group has largely brushed off Trump’s decision to skip the event as a scheduling issue, some critics say it underscores the NRA’s waning influence in Washington after years of financial and legal turmoil.

NRA Director of Public Affairs Justin Davis said in a Thursday interview that he’s “not at all” concerned that Trump’s absence reflects the group’s declining influence in GOP politics.

“The president is obviously incredibly busy with worldwide affairs right now, and we’re incredibly close to the administration. We work hand-in-glove with them on all kinds of two-way issues,” Davis said, calling the president an “incredible ally” of the NRA.

“He’s incredibly helpful in everything we’re trying to do here, but we understand that he has very important things to do as well,” he added.

Davis said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, will be speaking at the convention, adding, “So the administration will be here with us.”

The Justice Department did not respond to The Hill’s request for confirmation.

While some reporting indicated that Texas lawmakers would attend this weekend, it was not immediately clear whether any would be speaking. Neither the Texas lawmakers nor the two DOJ officials were listed among session speakers on the event website.

In past years, the NRA invited big-name speakers to its NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, which the group canceled last year after Trump decided to skip the convention. The group did not appear to advertise any politicians speaking at headline events ahead of the conference this year.

GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown — who leads the gun violence prevention group started by former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) after she was shot in a politically motivated attack — told The Hill that she sees Trump’s absence from the event as “embarrassing” for the NRA and a sign of its declining influence.

“It really represents the radical decline in influence that we’ve seen from the NRA in the last five to 10 years,” Brown told The Hill in an interview Friday. “They are hemorrhaging money. They are certainly hemorrhaging political support.”

“It is very unusual for a sitting Republican president to skip the NRA convention, and Trump is now skipping it for the second time in two years,” she added. “So the NRA doing their very best to cozy up to this administration is certainly not doing them any favors.”

Questions about the NRA’s influence come after the group faced a series of scandals that led longtime leader Wayne LaPierre to resign in 2024. He had faced accusations of financial impropriety, including that he spent more than $11 million on private flights and approved $135 million in contracts in exchange for yacht access and free vacations.

The scandal coincided with reports of declining membership and lower dues revenue. A decade ago, the NRA took in $200 million from membership dues, but just $61 million in 2023, according to an independent audit published by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The decline in the NRA’s political spending also suggests a waning of influence in Washington. When Trump ran for president in 2016, the NRA spent $54 million on his campaign, but, in 2024, it spent just over $10 million.

But Davis said the group, which expects 70,000 people in Houston this weekend, is committed to reforming and has done “an incredible job” trying to win back members’ trust. He said new processes are in place “to make sure that every member dollar is spent judiciously.”

“The folks who were around or played a major role in those wrongdoings of the past are all gone,” he said. “This is a new board, a new leadership team. Our CEO, Doug Hamlin… is laser-focused on making sure the NRA gets back on track, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Davis said people had been “rightfully upset with the wrongdoings that were happening” but are becoming more optimistic.

“So, it’s going to take time,” Davis said. “It’s our