President Trump met with Chris Cox, chief lobbyist for the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, yesterday in the aftermath of a discussion in which Trump signed onto virtually every left-wing gun control trope you can imagine in addition to slinging word salad across the room. It was truly a James-Bond-martini performance in that it left one shaken, not stirred.

I had a great meeting tonight with @realDonaldTrump & @VP. We all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people. POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control. #NRA #MAGA

— Chris Cox (@ChrisCoxCap6) March 2, 2018

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders filled in some of the gaps that are in effect as I write this but subject to change at a future date:

Sanders on Friday reiterated that the president continues to be a strong advocate of the right to bear arms.

“He’ll continue to support the Second Amendment, that’s not something that he’s backed away from,” Sanders told reporters when asked if the president had made any promises to the NRA during his White House meeting on Thursday with the group’s leadership. “The background check system is something that he’s still very much interested in improving.”

The press secretary said the president would “not necessarily” support universal background checks for all gun purchases but does support legislation sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) that would strengthen the background check system. She said Trump still supports raising the age at which certain guns can be purchased to 21, but conceded that “there’s not a lot of broad support for that.”

.@PressSec throws cold water on universal background checks. Remember when people thought he was w Dems on gun control? pic.twitter.com/ySYTU4bUIB

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 2, 2018

So, effectively, we are back to where we were at the beginning of the week. If this is surprising, you really haven’t been paying attention.