On Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to announce that he had called upon Lockheed Martin’s competitor, Boeing, to price out a jet comparable to that of the F-35 which Trump has called “out of control” with its costs.
“Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin, F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!” Trump tweeted.
About an hour later, Boeing responded to Trump via tweet saying they are “Ready to work with @realDonaldTrump’s administration to affordably meet U.S. military requirements.”
Trump met with the CEOs of Boeing and Lockheed Martin at his Mar-a-Lago home on Wednesday. The President-elect has been vocally loud in his criticism towards both companies.
Trump has been outspoken about his disapproval of Boeing’s $4 billion two new Air Force One plans and has been just as outspoken about Lockheed Martin saying that the “F-35 program and cost is out of control.”
The CEOs both said following their meetings Wednesday that they spoke to the President-elect about lowering costs.
Lockheed Martin released a statement from CEO Marilyn Hewson on Wednesday.
“I had a productive meeting with President-elect Trump this afternoon,” the statement read. “I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the importance of the F-35 program and the progress we’ve made in bringing the costs down. The F-35 is a critical program to our national security, and I conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our U.S. military and our allies.”
Boeing said in a statement that the company is “committed to working with the president elect and his administration to provide the best capability, deliverability and affordability across all Boeing products and services to meet our national security needs.”
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