Trump heeds NRA, says he's pulling US out of Arms Trade Treaty | Trump News
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US President Donald Trump[1] announced on Friday at the National Rifle Association's (NRA[2]) annual meeting that the United States[3] will drop out of an international arms treaty signed in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama but opposed by the NRA and other conservative groups.
Trump told members of the gun lobby that he intends to revoke the status of the US as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which was never ratified by the US Senate.
"We're taking our signature back," Trump said to thousands of cheering attendees, many wearing red hats emblazoned with the Republican president's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
The NRA has long opposed the treaty which regulates the $70bn business in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights[4] abusers. The lobbying group argues it would undermine domestic gun rights, a view the Obama administration rejected.
Trump added that the United Nations[5] will soon receive formal notice of the withdrawal.
The 193-nation UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved the treaty in April 2013 and the US, the world's top arms exporter, voted in favour of it despite fierce opposition from the NRA.
'Re-open the floodgates'
Trump's action drew an immediate rebuke from some international human rights groups.
"The United States will now lock arms with Iran, North Korea and Syria as non-signatories to this historic treaty whose sole purpose is to protect innocent people from deadly weapons," said Oxfam America President Abby Maxman.
Adotei Akwei, of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement, "With this announcement the Trump administration will re-open the floodgates for arms sales with weakened human rights criteria."
So far, 101 countries have formally joined onto the treaty. Another 29, including the US, have signed it, but not yet formally joined. Trump was joined on his trip to Indianapolis by White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, an advocate of
