World News: OnPolitics Today: 'I like taking guns away early,' Trump says, pushing back on due process

with Josh Hafner

OnPolitics Today: 'I like taking guns away early,' Trump says, pushing back on due process

Should due process apply to potential shooters? Not immediately, President Trump said Wednesday.

"I like taking guns away early," Trump said in a bizarre, free-flowing meeting with lawmakers. "Take the guns first, go through due process second."

Some Republicans are "petrified" of the NRA, Trump said, calling for lawmakers to put up an all-in-one gun bill to beef up background checks, arm school staffers and up the age for gun purchases while keeping guns away from the mentally ill and other potentially dangerous owners.

Trump received a word of caution from Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, that "the gun lobby has had a veto power" over gun bills. Trump seemed didn't seem phased.

"I like that responsibility," he said. "I really do."

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Trump loses Hope

Hope Hicks, the most influential White House aide you may not know about, will leave Trump's administration in the upcoming weeks or months. Hope is Trump's 29-year-old communications director, foisted into the high-profile role after Sean Spcier, Michael Dubke and Anthony Scaramucci all held and lost the title within Trump's first year. GQ named Hicks ' the most powerful person in Trump's Washington' last week, calling her the president's most trusted aide.

Incidentally, Hicks reportedly admitted during a Russia-related testimony Tuesday that she occasionally told "white lies" for Trump.

Trump, professional president, bashes his own attorney general on Twitter

Trump called a decision of Attorney General Jeff Sessions "DISGRACEFUL" (all caps, of course) on Wednesday, criticizing an investigation into alleged abuse of surveillance powers. Having the Justice Department's inspector general look into the handling of certain warrants "will take forever" Trump tweeted, lamenting a lack of prosecutorial power. And besides, "Isn't the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!"

What's a $31,000 table and chairs look like? Ben Carson knows, thanks to taxpayers

The Department of Housing and Urban Development spent more than $31,000 on dining room furniture for Secretary Ben Carson's office, with one official saying she was told that "$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair." Carson himself didn't know about the table's purchase, a spokesman told The New York Times, but he doesn't the consider the dining set too expensive and doesn't plan to return it. He also spent $3,373 on new blinds, per Politico.

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