WASHINGTON � In wide-ranging remarks to reporters as he left the White House for an event in Louisville, Ky., on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he is working with Republican and Democratic lawmakers to enhance background checks for gun purchases, denying reports that he had abandoned the idea after meeting with the National Rifle Association.
"We're working on background checks. There are things we can do," Trump said.
The president said he had a "great" talk with NRA Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre on Tuesday, and denied reports that he had pledged not to pursue more stringent background checks.
The debate over gun control has heated up again this month after a pair of shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, that killed more than 30 people.
Trump has chalked up the mass shootings last weekend in part to mental illness, while also saying he believes video games are a factor, despite the same games being available in other advanced nations that experience much lower rates of gun fatalities.
On other topics, Trump:
_ Cites 'nasty' remark by Danish leader after canceling trip
Trump said he canceled his trip to Denmark after a "nasty" comment by the country's prime minister.
The president said that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's remark that Trump's interest in buying Greenland was absurd "was a very not nice way of saying something."
"You don't talk to the U.S. that way," Trump said.
Trump called off the trip after his offer to buy Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, was met first with bemusement, then flat refusal. Anger followed, and even Denmark's Queen Margrethe II was drawn into the fray.
Trump had been due to make his first visit to Denmark, a founding member of NATO and a U.S. ally in the Iraq War, on Sept. 2-3. A series of reports last week indicated he wanted to purchase Greenland, the world's biggest island and site of a strategic American base. The territory is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, though it has extensive home rule.
A leading member of the Danish government bloc on Wednesday called Trump's behavior "hopeless," while a former prime minister said the decision was "deeply insulting" to Danes. The queen weighed in, noting through a spokeswoman that the U.S. president's decision to snub her invitation in a tweet came as a surprise.
Frederiksen said later that an invitation to Trump for a state visit still stands. The cancellation was a matter for regret, she told reporters in Copenhagen. "I was looking forward to his visit."
Their discussions were to have focused on the strategic importance of Greenland. It's where the U.S. has its northernmost base, Thule, and the island's location close to the natural resources in the Arctic has made it attractive to both Russia and China. Frederiksen's predecessor, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said the debacle will require "enormous" work to repair trans-Atlantic relations.
The cancellation of the trip is a "diplomatic crisis," said Kristian Jensen, a leading member of the opposition and a former finance minister. He hinted at the damage done to the post-World War II relationship with Denmark, which was among a handful of countries to follow the U.S. into the Iraq war.
_ Says Jews are disloyal to Israel if they vote for Democrats
Trump said American Jews are being disloyal to other Jews and Israel if they vote for a Democrat, doubling down on a statement a day earlier that prompted an outcry in the Jewish community.
"If you vote for a Democrat, you're being disloyal to Jewish people, and you're being very disloyal to Israel," Trump said Wednesday.
Many in the American Jewish community find it offensive to suggest they face a conflict of "dual loyalty" to Israel and the U.S., and Jewish groups _ including some that support Trump's positions on Israel _ condemned the president's initial comment on Tuesday.
Trump's remarks came as he continues to fight with two freshmen Democratic House members _ Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar _ over what he calls their "hatred" of Jews and Israel. The two were blocked from entering Israel this month because they support a boycott of the country over its treatment of Palestinians.
Trump encouraged Israel to bar them, saying Tlaib and Omar were plotting a "propaganda tour" of Israel and the West Bank. He calls the two women the "face" of the Democratic Party.
"Any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat _ I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty," Trump said Tuesday.
_ Says he's the 'chosen one' to take on China over trade
Trump said that he's the "chosen one" to wage a trade war with China and asserted that he's winning.
"This is a trade war that should have taken place a long time ago," Trump said, adding: "Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one."
Trump routinely criticizes previous presidents for failing to take on what he says are China's unfair trade practices.
China has called looming U.S. tariffs a violation of accords reached by Trump and Xi Jinping, vowing retaliation.
Trump has said he plans for 10% tariffs on an additional $300 billion in Chinese imports. Trump earlier imposed tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports.
