New Zealand’s Prime Minister Says Trump Asked About Countrywide Gun Grab

“I got the impression he was interested…”

Could Trump have had a secret closed-door meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister about their gun grab?

She says YES. 

On top of that, she thinks he was actually interested. She also says a ‘buyback is the right thing to do!’

Jacinda Ardern got global attention when her country swiftly implemented strict gun control measures following the Christchurch shooting in March that left 51 people dead. Ardern announced sweeping gun laws to outlaw military-style weapons just 10 days after the massacre, and Parliament passed the measure weeks later. 

In a closed-door meeting with President Trump earlier this week, Ardern said the two had a “policy discussion” about gun control but couldn’t say whether Mr. Trump is seriously considering a similar ban in the U.S. 

“We had a policy discussion. He was interested in how it all worked, how it had been received,” she said. “I got the impression he was interested. I would be second guessing anything beyond that.”

Just months after New Zealand passed its ban, Adern said her country’s buyback program has already collected 20,000 weapons and more than 70,000 parts — a significant number for a country of its size. 

“For us, actually, there is just no rational reason to have these in circulation. We don’t even know how many we had. But the fact that we have 20,000 returned in our small country of less than five million people — that’s a big result for us,” she said.  

 Asked about the lack of action on gun laws in the U.S., the prime minister said, “Well, all I know is how New Zealand responded, and how New Zealand has felt. And when they heard that someone had been able to access those guns legally and then make a very simple modification to those guns to make them absolute killing machines — we are a pragmatic people, and I think the response was, well, surely there is a way we can try preventing that happening in the future whilst at the same time maintaining legitimate use for legitimate users.”

Asked by “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King to address how President Trump’s rhetoric within the United States is viewed on the international stage, Ardern said that all leaders need to be careful. 

“Look, increasingly, and I think I’d make this statement about any of us. Even if you are from a smaller country like New Zealand, you can be shot up on a platform depending on what’s happening in your corner of the world,” she said. 

“The point I’ve tried to make is that increasingly we’re actually all amplified within each other’s borders. So, nothing that we say within our own country is just limited to there. 

We all hear each other now. And our people feel the effect of that. And I don’t say that to point to any one leader. Actually, that’s a duty that we all have. And in this border-less world, now, we need to be mindful that other countries hear it, kids hear it, and our words they have impact.”

Is President Trump having meetings like these to appease the left, and ‘play the game’?

Or is he truly interested in pursuing a nation-wide gun buyback?

Only time will tell. 

Original article can be found at cbsnews.com