WASHINGTON –
President Trump sought Thursday to clarify his stance on arming teachers, saying only ones with specialized training should have weapons.
Disputing news coverage of a White House conference on school safety, Trump tweeted Thursday: "I never said 'give teachers guns' like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC.
"What I said was to look at the possibility of giving 'concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience - only the best."
In a subsequent tweet, Trump say maybe 20% of teachers should have the ability to "immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions. Highly trained teachers would also serve as a deterrent to the cowards that do this. Far more assets at much less cost than guards."
Trump also added in an attack on the idea of "gun free" school zones, calling them "a magnet for bad people. ATTACKS WOULD END!"
More: Timeline: How Congress has responded to mass shootings
Trump's tweets echoed comments he made during a White House "listening session" Wednesday with students and parents, some of them survivors of last week's mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.
News organizations generally covered Trump's comments accurately.