On Friday, President Donald Trump spoke at a Boeing plant in South Carolina and stated that he was “looking seriously at a big order” of F/A-18 Super Hornets. He added that while the U.S. was doing so, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was a “tough negotiator” but he was hoping to make a deal.
“We are looking seriously at a big order,” he said. “Dennis is a tough negotiator, but we’ll get there.”
Donald Trump has spoken a lot about the military acquiring new aircraft both before his inauguration and after.
In December, Trump called on Boeing to “price out” the F-18 Super Hornet that was comparable with Lockheed Martin’s F-35, which he said had an “out of control” cost.
“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 has previously been outspoken about his disapproval of Boeing’s $4 billion two new Air Force One plans. Following a meeting in December with both the Lockheed Martin CEO as well as the Boeing CEO, Boeing released a statement saying they were “committed to working” with Trump and his administration on affordability for the United States.
The company stated that they were “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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