Trump news: President says US is ‘taking our signature back' from UN Arms Trade Treaty, claiming guns 'make our communities safer'

President vows to revoke US involvement in the international reforms effort

NRA crowd boos media after Trump calls them 'fake' at annual meeting

Donald Trump railed against "radical left-wing" 2020 hopefuls and praised members of the National Rifle Association during a speech hosted by the guns right's group Friday.

"Far-left radicals in Congress want to take away your voice, your jobs, your rights," the president said. "And they especially want to take away your guns." He went on to slam the press as "fake news" and vowed to protect the Second Amendment in the US.

Mr Trump also called in to Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Thursday evening to accuse the Democrats and Obama-era Justice Department of orchestrating a “coup” against him and Hillary Clinton of allowing thousands of private messages to be leaked and “destroying the lives” of his campaign staff. The chairmen of the House Oversight, Judiciary and Homeland Security committees have meanwhile launched a joint investigation into the departures of Kirstjen Nielsen, Randolph Alles and other officials earlier this month as a potential threat to national security.

With pro-gun legislation largely stalled in Congress, Mr Trump also revealed Friday he was withdrawing the US from an international agreement on the arms trade, calling it “badly misguided.”

He made the announcement as he vowed to fight for gun rights and implored members of the nation’s largest pro-gun group — struggling to maintain its influence — to rally behind his re-election bid.

“It’s under assault,” he said of the constitutional right to bear arms. “But not while we’re here.”

Mr Trump said he would be revoking the United States’ status as a signatory of the UN Arms Trade Treaty, which regulates international trade in conventional weapons, from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships.

Former President Barack Obama signed the pact in 2013 but it has never been ratified by US lawmakers.

“Under my administration, we will never surrender American sovereignty to anyone," Mr Trump said, before signing a document on stage asking the Senate to halt the ratification process. “We will never allow foreign diplomats to trample on your Second Amendment freedom.”

Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load

Key Points

• Trump rages against Democratic 'coup' plot in Sean Hannity interview
• President denies paying North Korea for Otto Warmbier care
• House committees investigate Homeland Security departures
• President, Mike Pence to address NRA in Indianapolis

[26 April 2019 19:35 · Chris Riotta]

The White House official Twitter account has shared Donald Trump’s controversial remarks from the NRA forum earlier today, captioning its video with a quote from the president reading, “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.”

[26 April 2019 19:55 · Chris Riotta]

Switching gears somewhat, Donald Trump will now head back to the White House to welcome Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 

Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s fundraising numbers have been released — and the former vice president raised nearly $6.3m (£4.8m) in 24 hours from more than 96k contributors. He bested both Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke. 

He's also got access to the coveted Obama/Biden 2012 email list, which is going to prove essential in the weeks/months to come.

[26 April 2019 20:15 · Chris Riotta]

In case you missed it, secret Russian agent Maria Butina was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempting to infiltrate the NRA and influence US policy — just as Donald Trump was delivering a major speech to the guns rights group Friday. 

[26 April 2019 21:08 · Chris Riotta]

This concludes today's live coverage from Washington. Scroll down for updates as they came in and reporting from The Independent on the Trump presidency in real-time.